Tanzania denies suspected Marburg outbreak after WHO issues alert in Kajera area.
Tanzania has dismissed reports by the World Health Organization (WHO) that a new outbreak of the Ebola-like Marburg virus has broken out in the north-west of the country.
On Tuesday, the World Health Agency said a total of nine suspected cases had been reported in Kajera region in the past five days, including eight deaths.
But Tanzania’s Health Minister Jenista Mahagama said in a statement that after samples were tested, all the suspected cases were found to be negative for the Marburg virus.
The country has strengthened its surveillance system and disease control, she said.
Mahagama said, “We would like to assure international organizations, including the World Health Organization, that we will always keep them up-to-date with developments.
Tanzania experienced its first Marburg outbreak in March 2023 in Bukoba district. It has been going on for two months, killing six people.
The highly contagious disease is similar to Ebola, with symptoms including fever, muscle aches, diarrhea, vomiting, and sometimes death from massive blood loss.
On Wednesday, WHO Director-General Theodore Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned of “more cases in the coming days as disease control improves” in the latest suspected outbreak in Tanzania.
The World Health Organization has stated that patients, including health professionals, are being monitored separately.
He added that the country’s rapid response teams have been deployed to identify suspected cases and prevent the epidemic.
The World Health Organization has warned that Kajera is a transit hub with many cross-border journeys to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda, so the potential for the suspected virus to spread in the region is high.
“We are not recommending travel or trade restrictions with Tanzania at this time,” Dr Tedros said in X.
The World Health Organization has described the global threat posed by the outbreak as “low”, saying there is no threat at the level of the disease’s global spread.
Following the reports, a team of experts was immediately deployed to the Kajera region to collect samples, Tanzania’s health minister said.
The laboratory results indicated that the Marburg outbreak was suspected, but the ministry did not specify the total number of suspected cases, she said.
In December, the outbreak in neighboring Rwanda ended with 66 people infected with the virus and 15 deaths in the country.
on average, The Marburg virus kills half of the people it infectsaccording to the World Health Organization.
Marburg virus is transmitted from fruit bats to humans and then through contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals.
Although trials are underway, there is no specific treatment or vaccine for the virus.