Rwanda reports no new Marburg infections or deaths for nearly a week

The country’s health minister cited the absence of new infections and deaths in the past six days.

There is no “community transmission” in the Marburg virus outbreak in Rwanda, the country’s health minister said on Sunday.
All positive cases have come from the list of known contacts of people with the virus, health minister Sabin Nsanzimana told reporters in Kigali, the Rwandan capital.
He said there had been no new infections or deaths in the past six days.
Identifying and isolating people who have been exposed to the virus is key to stopping outbreaks of haemorrhagic fevers like Marburg.
Rwanda has so far documented 1,146 contacts.
Nsanzimana spoke alongside Tedros Adhanom Ghebereyesus, the World Health Organization (WHO) director-general, who praised Rwanda’s efforts to stem the outbreak of the Ebola-like disease.
“I can see that the outbreak is being managed under strong leadership,” Tedros said.
“But we are dealing with one of the world’s most dangerous viruses, and continued vigilance is essential,” he added.
Marburg is a disease that can be fatal in up to 88 per cent of people who become ill. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, diarrhoea, and in some cases severe bleeding.
As of October 20, the East African country had reported 62 confirmed cases of Marburg and 15 deaths. The last time a new case and death was reported was October 14.
The outbreak was first declared at the end of last month.
Most of the affected people have been health workers who got the virus while treating patients, Nsanzimana said.
Nsanzimana said that an investigation showed the index case was almost certainly a 27-year-old man who had been exposed to the virus from contact with a specific cave-dwelling bat species.
The man had sought treatment at Kigali’s King Faisal Hospital, exposing many health workers there.
Marburg outbreaks and individual cases have in the past been recorded in Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Ghana.
The virus was first identified in 1967 after it caused simultaneous outbreaks of disease in laboratories in the German city of Marburg and in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Seven people died after being exposed to the virus while conducting research on monkeys.