Due to Marburg virus outbreaks, the United Arab Emirates has advised its residents and citizens against visiting Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea. The nation's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation pleaded with residents to put off travel to the two African nations in a statement. So far, it has been claimed that the virus has killed at least 14 people in the two countries.
Marburg virus is a highly infectious virus that can cause severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and non-human primates. Contact with infected animals or their body fluids, such as blood, saliva, or urine, can cause the virus to spread to people. Human-to-human transmission can occur through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of infected individuals or through contact with contaminated surfaces or materials.
Symptoms of the Marburg virus typically appear within 5 to 10 days of infection and include fever, headache, muscle pain, and weakness. Later stages of the disease can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and haemorrhaging. There is no specific treatment for the Marburg virus, and management is primarily supportive, including fluid and electrolyte replacement and treatment of complications.
According to AFP, nine people have died as a result of the viral epidemic in Equatorial Guinea. Three provinces are 150 kilometres apart and have reported cases, which "suggests widespread transmission of the virus," according to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director of the WHO.Tanzania reported eight cases, including five fatalities, to the WHO.
The virus belongs to the same so-called filovirus family as Ebola. According to AFP, the African fruit bat, which carries the virus but is unaffected by it, is thought to be the Marburg virus's presumed natural source.
A vaccine for the Marburg virus is currently in development but has not yet been approved for use in humans.
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