Two Die From Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak In Ghana

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has announced the death of two persons from the country’s first-ever outbreak of the Marburg virus disease.

The development was announced in a statement issued on Monday.
According to the statement, two deaths have been recorded and at least 98 contacts have been traced and quarantined.

African Examiner writes that the World Health Organisation (WHO) identifies the Marburg virus as one that causes fever as experienced by persons who contract Ebola.

In a statement on the development, the WHO disclosed that the two persons confirmed to have died after contracting the Marburg virus, had reported at the same hospital.

“The Institut Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal, received samples from each of the two patients from the southern Ashanti region of Ghana – both deceased and unrelated – who showed symptoms including diarrhoea, fever, nausea and vomiting,” the statement reads.

“The laboratory corroborated the results from the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, which suggested their illness was due to the Marburg virus.

“One case was a 26-year-old male who checked into a hospital on 26 June 2022 and died on 27 June. The second case was a 51-year-old male who reported to the hospital on 28 June and died on the same day. Both cases sought treatment at the same hospital within days of each other.”

The organisation further disclosed that it is working with the Ghana health authorities “by deploying experts, making available personal protective equipment, bolstering disease surveillance, testing, tracing contacts and working with communities to alert and educate them about the risks and dangers of the disease, and to collaborate with the emergency response teams”.

“Health authorities have responded swiftly, getting a head start preparing for a possible outbreak. This is good because without immediate and decisive action, Marburg can easily get out of hand,” Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, was quoted as saying.

“WHO is on the ground supporting health authorities and now that the outbreak is declared, we are marshalling more resources for the response.”