The Institut Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal received samples from each of the two patients from the southern Ashanti region of Ghana – both deceased and unrelated – who showed symptoms including diarrhoea, fever, nausea and vomiting.

The laboratory corroborated the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research results, which suggested their illness was due to the Marburg virus.

One case was a 26-year-old male who checked into a hospital on 26 June 2022 and died on 27 June. The second case was a 51 -year-old male who reported to the hospital on 28 June and died on the same day. Both cases sought treatment at the same hospital within days of each other.

The PUNCH had on July 8 reported two suspected cases of the virus in Ghana.

Marburg is a highly infectious viral haemorrhagic fever in the same family as the more well-known Ebola virus disease. It is only the second time the zoonotic disease has been detected in West Africa. Guinea confirmed a single case in an outbreak that was declared over on 16 September 2021, five weeks after the initial case was detected.

The PUNCH reports that previous outbreaks and sporadic cases of Marburg in Africa have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda.

Meanwhile, the WHO has reached out to neighbouring high-risk countries and they are on alert.

In a press statement made available to The PUNCH, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said, “Health authorities have responded swiftly, getting a head start preparing for a possible outbreak. This is good because without immediate and decisive action, Marburg can easily get out of hand. WHO is on the ground supporting health authorities and now that the outbreak is declared, we are marshalling more resources for the response.”

The UN body said more than 90 contacts, including health workers and community members, have been identified and are being monitored.

Marburg is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials. Illness begins abruptly, with a high fever, severe headache, and malaise.

WHO noted, “Many patients develop severe haemorrhagic signs within seven days. Case fatality rates have varied from 24 percent to 88 percent in past outbreaks depending on virus strain and the quality of case management. Although there are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat the virus, supportive care – rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids – and treatment of specific symptoms, improve survival.

“A range of potential treatments, including blood products, immune therapies, and drug therapies, as well as candidate vaccines with phase 1 data are being evaluated.”

This is the first time Marburg, a highly infectious disease that causes haemorrhagic fever and in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola has been identified in the country and in West Africa.

This is coming less than two months after Guinea declared an end to an Ebola outbreak that erupted earlier this year.

It was gathered that the patient had sought treatment at a local clinic in Koundou area of Gueckedou, where a medical investigation team had been dispatched to probe his worsening symptoms.

Samples taken from a now-deceased patient and tested by a field laboratory in Gueckedou as well as Guinea’s national haemorrhagic fever laboratory, turned out positive for the Marburg virus. Further analysis by the Institut Pasteur in Senegal confirmed the result.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa said; “We applaud the alertness and the quick investigative action by Guinea’s health workers. The potential for the Marburg virus to spread far and wide means we need to stop it in its tracks. We are working with the health authorities to implement a swift response that builds on Guinea’s past experience and expertise in managing Ebola, which is transmitted in a similar way.”

Efforts are underway to find the people who may have been in contact with the patient. As the disease is appearing for the first time in the country, health authorities are launching public education and community mobilization to raise awareness and galvanize support to help curb widespread infection.

According to WHO, Marburg virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats, and it spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials. Illness begins with high fever, severe headache and general discomfort.

Infected patients also develop severe haemorrhagic signs within seven days. Case fatality rates have varied from 24 percent to 88 percent in past outbreaks, depending on virus strain and case management.