On July 17, Ghana, a neighboring nation in West Africa, declared its first-ever Marburg virus disease outbreak.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), the Marburg virus disease (MVD) epidemic was notified by the World Health Organization (WHO) on July 17, 2022, in Ghana.
The disease was discovered for the second time in West Africa after being discovered in Guinea in August 2021, according to a statement made accessible to media persons.
Two males, 26 and 51, who were not related, were found to have the condition and died from it. After outbreaks in Marburg, Frankfurt, and Belgrade, Serbia, as well as Germany, the disease was first identified in 1967.
Several African nations have reported outbreaks and sporadic instances ever since.
Marburg virus Prevention :
The NCDC emphasized precautions that Nigerians should rigorously abide by in order to stop the Marburg virus outbreak in Nigeria.
- For the time being, abstain from non-essential travel to areas where the outbreak is suspected.
- Refrain from coming into contact with anyone who has the Marburg virus, whether they have the disease or not. This includes their blood, saliva, vomit, urine, and other bodily fluids.
- Keep away from sick animals and fruit bats, which are animal repositories.
- Make sure that everyone exhibiting the signs listed above is transported to a treatment center as soon as possible so that a diagnosis can be made and treatment for accompanying symptoms may begin.
To conclude
NCDC stated that the Marburg virus is also known to linger in the bodies of people who have recovered from MVD, including the placenta, amniotic fluid, fetus, breast milk, and semen of infected pregnant women, as well as infected men.
“Increase in severity of the illness can be heralded by the appearance of severe watery diarrhoea, jaundice, inflammation of the pancreas, severe weight loss, bleeding from multiple areas, delirium, shock, liver failure, massive hemorrhaging, and multi-organ dysfunction and/or failure.”
