Tanzania denies suspected Marburg outbreak after WHO alert in Kagera region

Tanzania has rejected a World Health Organization (WHO) report of a new suspected outbreak of the Marburg Ebola virus in the northwest of the country.

On Tuesday, the global health agency said a total of nine suspected cases had been reported over the past five days in the Kagera region, including eight deaths.

But in a statement, Tanzanian Health Minister Jenista Mhagama said that after testing the samples, all suspected cases tested negative for Marburg virus.

She said the country had strengthened its disease surveillance and tracking systems.

We “would like to assure international organizations, including the WHO, that we will always keep them informed of ongoing developments,” Mhagama said.

Tanzania experienced its first Marburg outbreak in March 2023 in Bukoba district. It killed six people and lasted almost two months.

This highly contagious disease is similar to Ebola, with symptoms including fever, muscle pain, diarrhea, vomiting and, in some cases, death from significant blood loss.

On Wednesday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned of “more cases in the coming days as disease surveillance improves” in the latest suspected outbreak in Tanzania.

The WHO said patients, including health workers, had been identified and were being monitored.

He added that the country’s rapid response teams had been deployed to help identify suspected cases and contain the outbreak.

The WHO warned that the risk of the suspected virus spreading in the region remained “high” as Kagera was a transit hub with many cross-border movements to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda.

“We are not recommending restrictions on travel or trade with Tanzania at this time,” Dr Tedros said on X.

The WHO said the global risk posed by the outbreak was “low” and there were no concerns at this stage about the disease spreading internationally.

Following this information, a team of experts was immediately deployed to the Kagera region, where they collected specimens, the Tanzanian Minister of Health said.

She said laboratory results had ruled out the suspected outbreak in Marburg, but the minister did not specify the total number of suspected cases investigated.

In December, neighboring Rwanda declared the country’s outbreak, which had infected 66 people and killed 15, was over.

On average, Marburg virus kills half of the people it infectsAccording to the WHO.

Marburg virus is transmitted to humans by fruit bats and then by contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals.

There is no specific treatment or vaccine for the virus, although trials are underway.