Rwanda Confirms First Marburg Case in Eight Days

A new case of the Marburg virus disease was confirmed on Wednesday, October 23, bringing the total to 63, the Ministry of Health said.

It was the first case to be confirmed since October 15.

“The new case is a medical worker who has been treating Marburg patients since the beginning of the outbreak,” the Minister of Health, Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, said in a post on X.

ALSO READ: Marburg outbreak: What we know 20 days later

There were two patients under treatment as of Wednesday.

The Ministry of Health has confirmed 63 cases and 15 deaths since the Marburg virus outbreak was confirmed on September 27. A total of 46 patients have recovered.

About 80 per cent of the confirmed cases are medical workers.

ALSO READ: How Rwanda detected the first Marburg virus cases

The ministry said that genomic sequencing of the Marburg virus indicated that the index case was linked to a zoonotic origin, meaning that the virus came from animal to human, without passing through multiple hosts.

The fatality rate is around 24 per cent, below the average 50 per cent for Marburg cases. In most previous Marburg virus outbreaks, the death toll reached up to 88 per cent.

ALSO READ: One Marburg patient under treatment after seven days without new cases

In response to the infectious disease, Rwanda implemented a host of measures including limiting hospital and school visits.

The government also rolled out a vaccination drive targeting healthcare workers and other high-risk groups. As of Wednesday, about 1,280 people had received the vaccine made by American organisation Sabin Vaccine Institute.

Patients are treated with monoclonal antibodies and the anti-viral drug called remdesivir.

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