“We are aware of nine cases so far, including eight deaths. We expect more cases in the coming days as disease surveillance improves,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on the social network
The UN global health agency says it informed its member states on Monday.
This Kagera region had already been the scene of a first Marburg outbreak in March 2023, which lasted almost two months and resulted in 9 recorded cases including 6 deaths.
The announcement of this new epidemic comes less than a month after the WHO declared the end of an epidemic of Marburg fever in neighboring Rwanda, which lasted three months and left 15 dead.
The results of the samples awaiting official confirmation
On 10 January 2025, WHO received reliable reports from national sources of suspected cases of MVD in the Kagera region. As of January 11, 2025, nine suspected cases were reported, including eight deaths (89% case fatality rate) in two districts, Biharamulo and Muleba.
The cases presented with similar symptoms: headache, high fever, back pain, diarrhea, hematemesis (vomiting with blood), malaise (body weakness), and, in more advanced stages of the disease, external bleeding.
Samples from two patients were collected and analyzed by the national public health laboratory. The results are awaiting official confirmation. A mobile laboratory is set up in the Kagera region and processing units have reportedly been set up.
“High” risk in Tanzania and sub-regional level
On the ground, national rapid response teams have been deployed to support the investigation and response to the outbreak. According to the WHO, surveillance activities have been intensified and contact tracing is underway.
Contacts, including health professionals, have been identified and are being followed up in both districts.
The WHO also declared that the risk at the national level was “high” due to several worrying factors, notably citing the fact that “the source of the outbreak (is) currently unknown”. “Healthcare personnel are among the suspected cases affected, which highlights the risk of nosocomial transmission.”
In addition, the risk of regional spread was also “high”, due to the “strategic location of Kagera”, the region through which Tanzanians transit on their way to “Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and the Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo.
According to available information, some of the suspected cases are in districts close to international borders, highlighting the risk of spread to these neighboring countries in the Great Lakes region.
The overall risk is currently considered low
The Kagera region, although not close to the Tanzanian capital or major international airports, is well served by transport networks. It thus has an airport which provides a connection with Dar es Salaam for continued travel outside Tanzania by air.
However, the WHO estimates that “the overall risk is currently considered low”, noting that there is “no confirmed international spread at this stage”, although “the potential risks raise concerns”.
“Based on the current risk assessment, WHO advises against any restrictions on travel and trade with Tanzania,” WHO concluded.
With a high mortality rate, the Marburg virus, which causes high fever often accompanied by hemorrhages affecting several organs, is part of the filovirus family to which the Ebola virus also belongs.
