Marburg virus: Symptoms, treatment, fatality rate, mode of transmission and other details

Ghana health authorities on Sunday officially confirmed two cases of the Marburg virus, a highly infectious disease similar to Ebola. The development came amid the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirming the results of the two cases earlier this month.

According to WHO, the first positive case was a 26-year-old man who checked into a hospital on June 26 and died a day later. While another man aged 51 years was reported to be the second case of the virus. The man was hospitalised on June 28 and died the same day. 

Notably, this is not the first time that the zoonotic disease has been detected in West Africa. The first case of the deadly virus was confirmed last year in Guinea, however, no other case was reported since then. 

What is Marburg virus disease?

According to WHO, Marburg virus is a highly infectious viral haemorrhagic fever, clinically similar to Ebola virus disease. The virus was first detected after simultaneous outbreaks in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany and in Belgrade, Serbia in 1967.

Marburg virus is often transmitted to people from fruit bats and can spread through human-to-human transmission via direct contact. The disease can spread in humans through the bodily fluids of infected people, broken skin, mucous membranes and contaminated fluids.

Symptoms of Marburg virus disease

Elaborating on the symptoms of the deadly virus, WHO revealed that the illness caused by the Marburg virus begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. Muscle aches and pains are also common features of the disease. 

Other symptoms of the Marburg virus are: 

1. Severe watery diarrhoea 

2. Abdominal pain and cramping

3. Nausea and vomiting (Mostly begins on the third day) 

The incubation period of the Marburg virus disease varies from two to 21 days. According to the health organisation, the disease has an average fatality rate of around 50 percent. However, the fatality can be as low as 24 percent or as high as 88 percent in some cases. 

Diagonosis and treament 

While it is difficult to clinically distinguish Marburg virus disease from other infectious diseases because of its general symptoms, the confirmation of the disease can be made using the following diagnostic methods: 

1. Antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) 

2. Antigen detection tests 

3. Serum neutralization tests 

4. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay

5. Virus isolation by cell culture

6. Electron microscopy