Rwanda has confirmed six deaths and 20 cases of Marburg disease, the country's health minister Sabin Nsanzimana said late on Saturday.
The majority of victims are health workers in the intensive care unit, Nsanzimana said in a video statement posted on X.
We are counting 20 people who are infected, and six who have already passed away due to this virus. The large majority of cases and deaths are among healthcare workers, mainly in the intensive care unit
Sabin Nsanzimana, Health Minister, Rwanda
Marburg disease, a viral hemorrhagic fever, can cause death among some patients, with symptoms including severe headache, vomiting, muscle aches, and stomach aches, the ministry has said.
Over the weekend, the World Health Organization announced that alongside medical supplies, it is sending a team of seven global experts in hemorrhagic diseases to Rwanda. These experts will assist and guide local public health officials in managing the Marburg virus outbreak.
Institutions and partners are working to trace those who have been in contact with the virus-affected individuals, the minister added.
With a fatality rate of as high as 88%, Marburg is from the same virus family as the one responsible for Ebola and is transmitted to people from fruit bats. It then spreads through contact with bodily fluids of infected people.
Experts say that, unlike the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, the Marburg virus is not airborne, which makes it somewhat easier to contain and control.
Neighboring Tanzania had cases of Marburg in 2023, while Uganda had similar ones in 2017.
VOA/SD
