Marburg virus disease outbreak amid COVID-19 pandemic: an emerging concern in Ghana, West Africa

First Marburg virus outbreak in Equatorial Guinea; what should we do to prevent future occurrence?

“…Increased caution should be exercised by people traveling to Equatorial Guinea, especially to eastern Kie Ntem Province, the region most affected by the MARV. "Healthy" individuals in the country should avoid contact with people presenting with fever, chills, myalgia, rashes, sore throat, diarrhea, weakness, stomach ache, and bleeding or bruising due to unknown causes [18] . Overall, to mitigate future outbreaks of Equatorial Guinea, more efforts should be focused on the primary preventive measures, such as increased mass education and awareness campaigns, on the risk factors of MARV, individual protection from the virus, and what to do in case of presentation of symptoms, as well as a high index of suspicion by the clinicians in the country.…”

Potential threats of Marburg virus in the Sub-Saharan African region: bridging the gaps

“…MVD, to begin with, was distinguished in August 1967 when an episode happened in Marburg, Germany, among research facility laborers exposed to African green monkeys contaminated with the infection [8] . Since that point, the infection has caused a few episodes in Africa, resulting in critical illness and mortality [6] . After its identification, the occurrence of MVD in SSA has exhibited occasional patterns [6,8] .…”

“…Since that point, the infection has caused a few episodes in Africa, resulting in critical illness and mortality [6] . After its identification, the occurrence of MVD in SSA has exhibited occasional patterns [6,8] . The epidemiological evidence suggests a correlation between increased morbidity and mortality rates and the occurrence of these disease outbreaks.…”

“…In addition to the above-described actions, African policymakers in the health sector should develop modern diagnostic tools, antiviral medicines, and vaccinations against MARV, as it has been shown to be a critical component of combating the Marburg virus threat in the world [6][7][8][9][10] . Research is being conducted to understand transmission pathways better, identify possible reservoirs or intermediate hosts, and create effective responses.…”

“…Despite global efforts to curtail the Marburg virus (MARV) spread, the virus remains a global health threat in most parts of the world, especially in the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) region [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] . MARV, like the Ebola virus, is a negative-stranded RNA virus that belongs to the order: Mononegavirales, family: Filoviridae, and genus: Marburgvirus [1] .…”