Ghana has declared the first Marburg virus illness epidemic in the nation after a WHO laboratory validated prior test results. Ghana has reported two cases of the fatal Marburg virus, marking the country’s first knowledge of the Ebola-like illness.
The disease is a highly contagious hemorrhagic fever that belongs to the same family as Ebola. According to the WHO, fruit bats are the primary vector for the disease’s transmission to humans, although it can also be transferred via direct contact with infected individuals’ bodily fluids and surfaces.
The Institute Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal, was contacted for a full confirmation after a preliminary study of samples from two deceased unrelated patients from Ghana’s southern Ashanti area revealed a positive result. According to a statement released by the WHO on Sunday, the laboratory affiliated with the UN agency for health verified the findings of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Ghana.
According to the Ghana Health Service (GHS), the Senegalese Pasteur Institute received the samples and verified the diagnosis. According to GHS chief Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, this is the first time Ghana has officially proven Marburg virus sickness.
However, Marburg, which is nearly as lethal as Ebola, has no known cure or vaccine. High temperature and both internal and external bleeding are among its symptoms.
