WHO confirms 2 more Marburg virus cases in Ghana

THE World Health Organization has confirmed 2 more cases of Marburg virus in Ghana, a senior WHO official said on Wednesday (Jul 27), two weeks after the country reported its first outbreak of the highly infectious Ebola-like disease.

Those first two cases, in southern Ghana’s Ashanti region, both had symptoms including diarrhoea, fever, nausea and vomiting, before dying in hospital, the WHO said previously.

“We have two additional cases,” Dr Ibrahima Soce Fall told journalists on Wednesday.

The outbreak is only the second in West Africa. The first ever case of the virus in the region was detected last year in Guinea.

Soce Fall said information received from Ghana suggested there were around 180 contacts being followed up and WHO teams were making sure that none was missed.

The virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with bodily fluids, surfaces and materials, the WHO said.

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Soce Fall said the cases had been reported in three different regions in Ghana, creating a “very difficult” situation.

“Although the cases are not high at the moment, ...we need to make sure that every hotspot can be stopped, otherwise it will become more complex,” he said. REUTERS