Ethiopia confirms deadly Marburg virus outbreak

Ethiopia has officially verified the presence of the lethal Marburg virus in the country’s southern region, as reported by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). The Marburg virus shares similarities with Ebola, causing symptoms such as severe bleeding, fever, vomiting, and diarrhea, with an incubation period of 21 days. Similar to Ebola, it spreads through contact with bodily fluids and has a mortality rate ranging from 25 to 80 percent. The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus from Ethiopia, disclosed that a minimum of nine cases have been identified in the south of the country, shortly after Africa CDC received information about a suspected hemorrhagic virus in the area. ‘Marburg virus disease (MVD) has been confirmed by the National Reference Laboratory in Ethiopia,’ Africa CDC confirmed on Saturday.