The re-emergence of Marburg virus Disease in West Africa: how prepared is the sub-region for preventing recurrent zoonotic outbreaks?

The Outbreak of Marburg Virus in Tanzania: An Emerging Global Health Threat

“…The Marburg virus outbreak is a significant global health threat due to its high fatality rate, transmission through infected animals making it challenging to predict and control outbreaks, lack of specific treatments or vaccines, occurrence in various parts of the world including Europe, Africa, and Asia, and the potential for global spread due to global travel and trade, and classification as a category 'A' bioterrorism agent by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), emphasizing the need for preparedness and response systems to prevent international outbreaks [4,5,6,12,13]. The virus's spread beyond Tanzania is worrying due to its contagiousness and severity, which could cause significant outbreaks in regions with weak healthcare systems and quickly become a global health emergency.…”

“…It is highly contagious and spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids or contaminated materials, with symptoms appearing within 5 to 10 days, including fever, headache, muscle aches, vomiting, diarrhea, and bleeding including multiple organ failure [1,2,3]. Case fatality rates range from 24% to 90% depending on the virus strain and quality of medical services [4,5], and no specific treatment or vaccine is currently available [5,6]. Survival rates can be improved through early supportive care, including rehydration and symptomatic treatment, as there is currently no licensed treatment that can neutralize the virus, but multiple blood products, immune therapies, and drug therapies are being developed [7].…”

Characterization of the Cynomolgus Macaque Model of Marburg Virus Disease and Assessment of Timing for Therapeutic Treatment Testing

“…MARV outbreaks likely result from spillover events from natural host reservoir species, such as the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) [2][3][4]. The first known outbreak of MARV occurred in 1967 in Marburg, Germany, and outbreaks have occurred sporadically since that time throughout sub-Saharan Africa [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Currently, no licensed MARV vaccines or therapeutics are available, and due to the sporadic nature of the outbreaks, animal models that recapitulate the human disease are needed for the development of these countermeasures.…”

Marburg virus disease is a looming threat in the Republic of Guinea

“…Significant gaps in genomics and bioinformatics capacity in national institutions have also been caused by MVD [10] . It is therefore urgent to look into and deal with this ongoing issue as the MVD outbreaks continue to be a threat in recent times when we are still recovering from aftermaths of COVID-19 and its newer variants.…”