3rd October 2024. Rwanda’s ongoing battle with its first Marburg virus outbreak intensified as the Ministry of Health confirmed seven new cases and an additional death yesterday. In a briefing today, Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana provided updates, including plans to begin a vaccine trial soon.
Meanwhile, two travelers returning to Germany from Rwanda tested negative for the virus after being isolated in Hamburg due to potential exposure in a Rwandan hospital where Marburg patients were being treated.
The latest figures bring Rwanda’s Marburg virus outbreak to 36 cases, 11 of them fatal, marking it as one of the largest recorded globally. In a media briefing organized by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Nsanzimana revealed that healthcare workers make up 80% of the infected, with 29 cases reported among them. Currently, 25 individuals are receiving care in isolation, and health officials are monitoring 323 identified contacts.
The outbreak was first detected when healthcare workers began falling ill, and early patients did not respond to treatment for conditions like malaria, which shares initial symptoms with Marburg. The virus spreads through contact with infected body fluids, and many cases have been linked to an ICU cluster where the suspected index patient was treated.
Nsanzimana also announced that Rwanda is expecting 5,000 doses of remdesivir to enhance treatment efforts. The ministry plans to initiate a vaccine trial soon, with details on the vaccine and its rollout to be announced in the coming days. As of now, no specific treatments or vaccines for the Marburg virus are officially approved.
Genetic sequencing and further epidemiologic investigations are ongoing, and though Nsanzimana described the outbreak as "controlled," it is not yet fully contained.
Read more: Gilead Donates Remdesivir for Emergency Use in Response to Marburg Virus Disease in Rwanda here and
Marburg Virus updates on this link and the Situation in Rwanda, Epidemiology, Public health response, WHO risk assessment, WHO advice at this link.