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WHO declares end of Marburg Virus disease in Tanzania

Comes two months after the disease was confirmed for the first time in the country.

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by LUCY MUMBI

News02 June 2023 - 15:25
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In Summary


  • • WHO said in a statement that nine cases - eight confirmed and one probable - and six deaths were recorded in the outbreak which was declared on March 21, 2023.
  • • The disease spreads among humans through direct contact with body fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials touched by infected people.
The Marburg virus was first detected in the city of Marburg in Germany in 1967

The World Health Organization has declared Tanzania free from the outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease.

The announcement on Friday comes two months after the disease was confirmed for the first time in the country.

"Tanzania today declared the end of the Marburg Virus Disease outbreak which was confirmed just over two months ago in the north-western Kagera region,” WHO said in a statement.

It added that nine cases - eight confirmed and one probable - and six deaths were recorded in the outbreak which was declared on March 21, 2023.

"A laboratory analysis confirmed that the cause of deaths and illnesses that were reported earlier in the region was Marburg,” WHO said.

The health body said Marburg is in the same family with Ebola. It is a highly infectious and often fatal hemorrhagic fever.

The disease is transmitted to people from contact with fruit bats and human faeces. Male mine workers in bat-infested mines were infected.

The disease spreads among humans through direct contact with body fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials touched by infected people.

The symptoms include diarrhoea, fever, nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain.

WHO says the disease begins abruptly with high fever, severe headache and malaise. 

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