Reports reaching JoyNews indicate that the public is complaining about the lack of awareness about the deadly Marburg virus.

The virus has claimed the lives of two people in the Ashanti Region. The Ghana Health Service has therefore placed about 98 people under strict surveillance.

Although 31 persons have been discharged after clearance by authorities, many more people across the country have close to no knowledge about the virus.

Interacting with JoyNews, about the awareness level of the virus, a member of the public had this to say.

“This is my first time hearing about it. I think I have gotten it before and I have no idea that I have even had the virus once in my life,” a gentleman said.

Another also stated that “we’ve not heard about it. I listen to the news a lot but I have not heard about it.”

 “I am saying that I didn’t hear about it and so I am innocent,” one other member of the public added.

Others agreed that, while they had heard of the Marburg Virus, they knew very little about it.

“Actually, I have heard about it in the news but I do not know much about it and then just like Covid-19 came around and then we were much educated and it was all over in the news, the last one I heard was Omicron, so the new one I heard it in the news but for the details, I don’t know much about it.”

“It is a virus and it is around. I am sure it is killing people in the system so people should be well aware of what is happening around us,” another shared with JoyNews.

Already, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) is calling for a return to the safety protocols instituted for Covid-19.

According to GMA General Secretary Titus Beyuo, the Marburg virus has a high fatality rate, unlike Covid-19 hence the need to focus on containment and prevention of spread.

Also, a virologist with the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research, Dr Michael Owusu has recommended an emergency sensitization campaign to boost public awareness about the virus.

“The aspect of education is on the low side, because we know bush meat animals are one of the major reservoirs of the virus. So at this level we need a lot of education for people to understand that we are dealing with something more different than Covid,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Health Service is on an aggressive hunt for the source of the outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus disease which has killed 2 persons in the Ashanti Region.

Director of Public Health at the Ghana Health Service, Dr Franklin Asiedu Bekoe says the Service has begun aggressive contact tracing, adding that his outfit will increase surveillance.

https://www.myjoyonline.com/marburg-virus-ghana-health-service-on-lookout-for-source-following-death-of-2-people/

“Our approach is about containment. So what we are doing is that we are making sure that we identify all contacts by involving the community members who have a better knowledge of the community, so that if the case should occur, immediately we detect and manage,” he said.

In a related development, the World Health Organisation (WHO) will in the coming days deploy a team of experts to assist Ghana to fight the outbreak of the Marburg virus disease in the country.

All you need to know about Marburg Virus

Marburg virus is the causative agent of Marburg virus disease (MVD), a disease with a case fatality ratio of up to 88%, but can be much lower with good patient care.

Marburg virus disease was initially detected in 1967 after simultaneous outbreaks in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany; and in Belgrade, Serbia.

Marburg and Ebola viruses are both members of the Filoviridae family (filovirus). Though caused by different viruses, the two diseases are clinically similar. Both diseases are rare and have the capacity to cause outbreaks with high fatality rates.

https://www.myjoyonline.com/marburg-virus-all-you-need-to-know/

Symptoms of Marburg virus disease

The incubation period (interval from infection to onset of symptoms) varies from 2 to 21 days.

Illness caused by Marburg virus begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. Muscle aches and pains are common features. Severe watery diarrhoea, abdominal pain and cramping, nausea and vomiting can begin on the third day.

Diarrhoea can persist for a week. The appearance of patients at this phase has been described as showing “ghost-like” drawn features, deep-set eyes, expressionless faces, and extreme lethargy. In the 1967 European outbreak, non-itchy rash was a feature noted in most patients between 2 and 7 days after onset of symptoms.

Many patients develop severe haemorrhagic manifestations between 5 and 7 days, and fatal cases usually have some form of bleeding, often from multiple areas. Fresh blood in vomitus and faeces is often accompanied by bleeding from the nose, gums, and vagina. Spontaneous bleeding at venepuncture sites (where intravenous access is obtained to give fluids or obtain blood samples) can be particularly troublesome.

During the severe phase of illness, patients have sustained high fevers. Involvement of the central nervous system can result in confusion, irritability, and aggression. Orchitis (inflammation of one or both testicles) has been reported occasionally in the late phase of disease (15 days).

In fatal cases, death occurs most often between 8 and 9 days after symptom onset, usually preceded by severe blood loss and shock.

Diagnosis

It can be difficult to clinically distinguish MVD from other infectious diseases such as malaria, typhoid fever, shigellosis, meningitis and other viral haemorrhagic fevers. Confirmation that symptoms are caused by Marburg virus infection are made using the following diagnostic methods:

• antibody-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
• antigen-capture detection tests
• serum neutralization test
• reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay
• electron microscopy
• virus isolation by cell culture.

Samples collected from patients are an extreme biohazard risk; laboratory testing on non-inactivated samples should be conducted under maximum biological containment conditions. All biological specimens should be packaged using the triple packaging system when transported nationally and internationally.

Treatment and vaccines

Currently, there are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved for MVD. However, supportive care – rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids – and treatment of specific symptoms, improves survival.

There are monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) under development and antivirals e.g. Remdesivir and Favipiravir that have been used in clinical studies for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) that could also be tested for MVD or used under compassionate use/expanded access.

In May 2020, the EMA granted marketing authorisation to Zabdeno (Ad26.ZEBOV) and Mvabea (MVA-BN-Filo). against EVD. The Mvabea contains a virus known as Vaccinia Ankara Bavarian Nordic (MVA) which has been modified to produce 4 proteins from Zaire ebolavirus and three other viruses of the same group (filoviridae). The vaccine could potentially protect against MVD, but its efficacy has not been proven in clinical trials.