Guinea confirms West Africa’s first case of deadly Marburg virus

For the first time ever, Marburg virus disease has been confirmed in West Africa. The case was reported by health authorities in Guinea’s southern Gueckedou prefecture, where the country’s latest Ebola outbreak was declared over less than two months ago. Guinea is currently dealing with a third wave of covid-19 cases. Guinea’s health ministry said that on 25 July the patient arrived at a local clinic in the Koundou area of Gueckedou for treatment and a medical investigation team was dispatched to investigate his worsening symptoms, including fever, headache, fatigue, abdominal pain and bleeding gums. He died on 2 August. A field laboratory in Gueckedou collected samples from the deceased patient and Guinea’s national haemorrhagic fever laboratory confirmed he had Marburg virus. The Pasteur Institute in Senegal also confirmed the result. Described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a highly infectious virus that causes haemorrhagic fever, Marburg belongs to the same...