Tanzania denies suspected Marburg outbreak after WHO alert in Kagera district

Tanzania has rejected a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) about a suspected new outbreak of the Ebola-like Marburg virus in the north-west of the country.

On Tuesday, the World Health Agency said nine suspected cases, including eight deaths, had been reported in the Kagera region in the past five days.

But in a statement, Tanzania’s Health Minister Jenisto Mkhagama said all suspected cases had tested negative for the Marburg virus after samples were tested.

She said the country has strengthened its disease surveillance and monitoring systems.

We “would like to assure international organizations, including the WHO, that we will always keep them informed of current developments,” Mkhagama said.

Tanzania experienced its first outbreak of Marburg in March 2023 in Bukoba district. It killed six people and lasted almost two months.

This highly contagious disease is similar to Ebola with symptoms including fever, muscle aches, diarrhea, vomiting and, in some cases, death from severe blood loss.

On Wednesday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned of “additional cases in the coming days as disease surveillance improves” in the latest suspected outbreak in Tanzania.

The WHO said the patients, including health workers, have been identified and are being monitored.

He added that the country’s emergency response teams had been deployed to help identify suspected cases and contain the outbreak.

The WHO has warned that the risk of the suspected virus spreading in the region remains “high” because Kagera is a transit hub with large cross-border traffic to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda.

“At this time, we are not recommending restrictions on travel or trade with Tanzania,” Dr Tedros told X.

The WHO said the global risk of an outbreak is “low” and there are no concerns at this stage about the disease spreading internationally.

Following the reports, a team of experts was immediately dispatched to the Kagera region where they collected samples, Tanzania’s health minister said.

She said laboratory test results ruled out the suspected Marburg outbreak, but the minister did not specify the total number of suspected cases under investigation.

In December, neighboring Rwanda announced that the country’s outbreak, which had infected 66 people and killed 15, was over.

On average, Marburg virus kills half of the people infected with itAccording to the World Health Organization.

Marburg virus is transmitted to humans from fruit-eating bats, and then through contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals.

There is no specific treatment or vaccine for the virus, although trials are underway.