Marburg Virus: Two People Die Of Deadly Disease In Ashanti Region, 98 Placed Under Quarantine

• Two people who reported at a hospital with symptoms of the Marburg virus disease have died
• The GHS confirmed that they had the virus after their samples returned positive from a lab in Senegal
• Some 98 people who came into contact with them, including health officials, have been quarantined

The two people who tested positive for the deadly Marburg virus disease in Ghana died from complications earlier this month.

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) confirmed two Marburg virus cases in Ghana in a press statement dated Sunday, July 17, 2022.

According to the BBC, both patients died not long ago at a health facility in the southern part of the Ashanti Region.

It said samples taken to Senegal for testing earlier this month returned positive.

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The GHS director-general, Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said some 98 people who came into contact with infected persons had been placed under quarantine.

The Marburg virus is a highly contagious disease in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola.

There is no treatment or vaccine yet for the disease, but consuming a lot of fluids, especially water, and treating symptoms have been identified as good ways of improving a patient's chances of survival.

The virus is transmitted through the transmission of bodily fluids and is known to be transmitted to humans by fruit bats.

About the Marburg virus

YEN.com.gh reported previously that the Marburg virus causes a rare disease that can cause bleeding and fever and affects humans and non-human primates. According to GHS, fruit bats are natural hosts of the Marburg virus.

It is transmitted to people from animals and spreads among humans through human-to-human transmission from direct contact with body fluids, blood, and other discharges from the affected person/animal. The incubation period for the disease is two to twenty- 21 days.

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The GHS has warned people to keep away from caves and to thoroughly cook all meat products before consumption.

Marburg was first recorded in Germany in 1967, where an outbreak killed seven people.

The virus killed more than 200 people in Angola in 2005, becoming the deadliest outbreak on record.

In Africa, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda, have reported outbreaks and sporadic cases.

According to the WHO, the fatality ratio of the disease is up to 88%.

Source: YEN.com.gh