Five Things You Should Know About Marburg Virus
On January 20, 2025, President Samia Suluhu Hassan announced a Marburg virus outbreak in the northwestern Kagera region of Tanzania. This is not the first time Tanzania has faced a Marburg outbreak — the last one happened two years ago. Neighboring Rwanda also dealt with a Marburg virus outbreak in 2024 and successfully controlled it. This shows that while the Marburg virus is deadly, its spread can be stopped. African countries have the ability, with help from the global community, to prevent, detect, and respond to dangerous disease outbreaks like this.
Here are five key things to know about Marburg virus:
1. What It Is:
The Marburg virus is a really dangerous virus that is a lot like Ebola. They are like “cousins” because they come from the same family of viruses. Both make people very sick with high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and bleeding, and they spread in the same way — through body fluids like blood, sweat, or spit. Both are super deadly if you do not get help on time.
2. How It Spreads:
You can catch the Marburg virus by touching the body fluids (like blood, pee, poop, sweat, or spit) of someone who is sick or from animals like bats and monkeys. It can also spread by touching things they have used, like clothes or beddings.
3. What It Does:
The virus can make you feel really bad with fever, headache, belly pain, diarrhea, and vomiting. In serious cases, people bleed from their gums, nose, or inside their body.
4. Why It is Scary:
The Marburg virus is very deadly. Out of every 100 people who get it, up to 88 might die if they do not receive the right care.
5. How to Protect Yourself:
- Stay away from bats and monkeys if you are in areas where the virus is endemic.
- Do not treat yourself when you have fever. Go to the clinic to be treated by health workers. It is really important to listen to health workers if there is an outbreak nearby.
- Do not touch sick people’s body fluids or their stuff.
- There is no cure or vaccine yet, but health workers can help by giving fluids and medicines to make you feel better.
