FEARS GROW AS MARBURG VIRUS SPREADS IN EQUATORIAL GUINEA

▶ Cases reported in commercial centre of Bata after seven die in latest wave of infection

A deadly outbreak of the Marburg virus, which causes symptoms similar to Ebola, has spread from rural areas of Equatorial Guinea to the commercial capital of Bata.

The US embassy in the country reported four Marburg cases in the port city, but there are fears infections could surge.

The Marburg virus belongs to the same filovirus family as Ebola and killed about 90 per cent of those infected during previous outbreaks.

Laboratory tests confirmed nine people have been infected in the latest wave. Seven are dead.

At least 20 others are thought to have died after contracting the virus.

Cases have been reported in three provinces, spanning about 145km, which suggests health workers have been unable to keep track of infected people or stop the spread of the virus.

Monitoring has been hampered by the outbreak starting in a remote part of northeastern Kie-Ntem province.

The Health Ministry has also blamed the spread of the virus on people ignoring quarantine restrictions.

“There are currently no licensed vaccines or treatments for Marburg virus disease, so we rely yet again on contacttracing to prevent even more casualties,” said Teresa Lambe,

professor of vaccinology and immunology at the University of Oxford’s Pandemic Sciences Institute.

“We need to take pandemic preparedness more seriously and invest in vaccines, treatments and clinical trials to prevent these dangerous viruses from spreading.”

Confirmation of cases in Bata will increase fears the disease may spread beyond Equatorial Guinea’s borders.

The authorities in neighbouring Gabon and Cameroon are on high alert.

Health officials in Cameroon, north of Equatorial Guinea, said they tested 15 suspected Marburg patients this month but the results were negative.

Egyptian fruit bats are considered to be the natural animal host of the virus, although it has also been detected in monkeys.

When the virus passes to humans, it spreads from person to person through bodily fluids including blood and mucus, as well as contact with bedding and clothing.

Health workers and those preparing bodies for burial have been particularly at risk of infection during previous outbreaks of the virus.

Doctors have said symptoms begin with high fever, severe headache and malaise.

Many patients start to haemorrhage after a week, bleeding from parts of their body including the nose and gums.

Death can follow quickly, although receiving treatment swiftly can greatly increase the chances of survival

Since it was discovered, the virus has killed about half of those it infected, with the fatality rates in previous outbreaks reaching between 24 per cent and 88 per cent.

The virus was identified in 1967 after 31 were infected and seven died in outbreaks in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany and Belgrade in Serbia.

The outbreaks were traced to green monkeys imported from Uganda.

Tanzania, in East Africa, last week announced cases of the Marburg virus.

Health officials said it was too early to tell whether the outbreaks, about 3,220km apart, were linked.