World Health Experts Raise Alarm As Nine Die In New Outbreak Of ‘Eye-bleeding’ Virus

Global health chiefs have raised an alarm after nine people died in a new outbreak of an ‘eye-bleeding’ Ebola-like virus called Marburg.

Marburg, one of the deadliest pathogens ever discovered, has already infected ten people in the African nation of Tanzania since the country officially announced the outbreak last week.

According to Africa’s health agency, of these infections, nine have died, reflecting the virus’s 90 percent mortality rate.

The cases were reported in the Kagera region of Tanzania. The area is located in the northwest of the country and has a population of nearly three million.

But because the country’s main international airport in the capital Dar es Salaam is easily accessible by train, experts are worried the disease could spread further, TheSun reported.

Ngashi Ngongo, from the Africa Centre for Disease Control Centre (CDC), told an online briefing they are doing everything they can with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to limit the toll of the outbreak.

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Authorities have identified ‘about 281 contacts’ of the 10 cases, which are being closely monitored for infections. Ngongo said:

“There have been a total of 31 tests that have been conducted, two confirmed, and 29 I think, that are negative.”

Marburg is a haemorrhagic fever where organs and blood vessels are damaged, causing bleeding internally or from the eyes, mouth, and ears.

The virus can be spread by touching or handling the body fluids of an infected person, contaminated objects, or infected wild animals.

The WHO says it has a case-fatality ratio (CFR) of up to 88 percent, meaning it can kill nearly nine in ten people it infects.

The outbreak in Tanzania comes less than a month after a Marburg outbreak in neighbouring Rwanda was officially declared over.

A total of 66 people were infected, roughly 80 percent of which were healthcare workers.

The country reported 15 deaths, with Rwanda’s response praised internationally for its low death rate of 23 percent, the lowest ever for a Marburg outbreak in Africa.