Tanzania on Friday declared the end of a deadly outbreak of
the Marburg virus, more than two months after it was first confirmed, the World
Health Organization (WHO) said.
A total of nine cases, eight confirmed and one probable, and
six deaths were recorded in the outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever in the
northwestern region of Kagera, the WHO said in a statement.
It was the first such outbreak in Tanzania, an East African country
with a population of almost 62 million.
The Marburg virus is a highly dangerous microbe which causes
severe fever, often accompanied by bleeding and organ failure.
It is part of the so-called filovirus family that also
includes Ebola, which has wreaked havoc in several previous outbreaks in
Africa.
Marburg is highly virulent has a fatality rate of up to 88
percent, the UN’s health agency said.
The last confirmed case of Marburg in Tanzania tested
negative on April 19, setting off the 42-day mandatory countdown to declare the
end of the outbreak, the WHO said.
The virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and
spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected
people, surfaces and materials, it added.
There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to
treat it.