The Central African country of Equatorial Guinea has confirmed its first outbreak of Marburg virus disease, the World Health Organization announced Monday. At least nine people in the nation’s western Kie Ntem Province have died from the illness, preliminary tests show. Marburg is an extremely dangerous illness for which no vaccines or antiviral treatments exist. The highly infectious illness, which is in the same family as the virus which causes Ebola, similarly triggers hemorrhagic fever and can have a death rate as high as 88 percent, according to WHO. Illness begins suddenly and includes symptoms like high fever and severe headache before hemorrhagic symptoms appear in many patients within seven days. “Thanks to the rapid and decisive action by the Equatorial Guinean authorities in confirming the disease, emergency response can get to full steam quickly so that we save lives and halt the virus as soon as possible,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
