Symptoms are severe and the patient may bleed from his eyes and ears... What is the Marburg virus and will it turn into an epidemic?

 Al - Anbat - Anwaar Berro

The World Health Organization announced the registration of two cases of Marburg virus in Ghana, and their deaths were confirmed later, in a precedent that was the first since 1967, when 12 foci of the virus were recorded in southern and eastern Africa.

The World Health Organization said that the death rates in infection with Marburg virus ranged between 24 and 90% in previous outbreaks, explaining that the percentage depends on the strain of the virus and the method of dealing with cases.

Marburg virus disease is very virulent and may turn into an epidemic and is associated with a high case fatality rate (ranging between 24 and 90%), and it is difficult in the early stages of the onset of "Marburg virus disease" to be clinically diagnosed to distinguish it from other tropical febrile illnesses because of the similarities in its symptoms. Clinical

Symptoms of infection with this deadly virus include headaches, vomiting blood, and muscle pain, in addition to a high temperature in the person infected with the virus.

Some patients later bleed through body openings such as the eyes and ears.

Differential diagnoses to be excluded include Ebola virus disease, as well as malaria, typhoid fever, leptospirosis, rickettsiosis, and plague.

Marburg virus is transmitted by direct contact with blood, body fluids, or body tissues of infected people or wild animals such as monkeys and fruit bats.

Nevertheless, supportive care, including careful monitoring of vital signs, resuscitation of the patient with fluids, electrolysis, and acid-base monitoring, along with management of co-infections and organ dysfunction, are critical components of care and improve patient outcomes and survival life.

According to "Russia Today", some monoclonal antibodies are being prepared, and other antivirals are being explored to treat "Marburg virus" disease, such as galdisvir, favipiravir, and remdesivir as part of clinical trials, but without obtaining clear results.