What is Marburg Virus: The world is trying to recover from the rippling effect of the covid-19 virus. And seem like there’s a new virus on the list now. On August 9, 2021, the health authorities reported a positive case of the Marburg virus in Southern Gueckedou, Guinea. As per the World Health Organisation, this is a highly infectious virus, with up to 88 per cent fatality rate. This virus has been detected in West African countries. However, it is not a global threat yet.

Marburg belongs to the same biological family of the virus that causes Ebola. Earlier this year, Guinea had declared there weren’t any Ebola cases but there were cases that detected the Ebola virus two months ago.

Samples were taken from deceased patients and were sent for testing to labs in Gueckedou and Guinea’s National Haemorrhagic Fever Laboratory. They turned out to be positive for the Marburg virus. The test results were again confirmed by Institut Pasteur in Senegal and the results were the same. The health authorities of the nation are now monitoring 155 people who came into contact with the infected persons. The transfer of this virus from bat colonies to human beings is at high risk and at the national level. But it is not yet posed as a global threat.

Here are all the things you need to know about the Marburg virus:

What is Marburg Virus?

Human beings come in contact with this virus when they are overexposed to mines and caves inhabited by Rousettus bat colonies. This virus is deadly as it can transfer to other human beings in a fraction of seconds. An infected person can spread this virus through direct contacts like broken skin or mucous membranes, blood, secretions, organs and other bodily fluids. They can spread this virus via surfaces and materials like bedding, clothing when coming in contact with the infected person. The incubation period for this virus is 2-21 days.

What are the Symptoms of Marburg Virus?

The symptoms can start all of a sudden. Here is the list of symptoms:
• A person can experience high fever, severe headache, and discomfort. This will be accompanied by severe muscle pain too.
• On day three, a person can also experience watery diarrhoea, abdominal pain, and cramping, nausea and vomiting. The diarrhoea can persist for a week after that.
• An infected person will have pale skin, tired eyes, and feel extremely lethargic.
• Between day two and day 7, an infected person can develop a non-itchy rash too.
• Bleeding can also be caused in many intimate areas.
• Oozing of blood can be seen from body parts like the nose, gum, vagina. Blood can also be found in vomit and faeces as well.
• An infected person can also experience a high fever along with irritability and aggression.
• Death can be caused on day 8 or 9 after severe loss of blood. An infected can also die due to shock and trauma too!

How to Get Diagnosed?

According to Medical Dialogues, here are the ways an infected person can get diagnosed upon the confirmation of the virus:
• Antigen detection tests
• Tests like Serum Neutralisation
• Virus isolation via cell culture
• RT-PCR or reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction
• ELISA – antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
This virus is highly deadly hence, all labs should use a triple packaging system when they are transporting the samples, nationally or internationally. It is an extremely biohazard risk and the test needs to be conducted in extreme biological containment conditions.

What is the Treatment for Marburg Virus?

As of now, there is no vaccine to cure or curb this virus. A person needs to be extra cautious and makes sure to rehydrate with oral or intravenous fluids. If the right treatment is done to the symptoms, the chances of survival increase.