Equatorial Guinea confirms 8 new cases of Marburg virus

Equatorial Guinea has confirmed another eight cases of the “highly virulent” Marburg virus, a deadly hemorrhagic fever with no authorized vaccine or treatment.
The World Health Organization on Thursday said that brings the country’s total number of cases to nine in the outbreak declared in mid-February.
There are two known current outbreaks of Marburg on the African continent. Tanzania this week announced eight cases of Marburg, including five deaths. One of the people killed was a health worker.
“Our pathogen genomics team will sequence samples from both places … and see if there is a relationship between the current two outbreaks,” the acting director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ahmed Ogwell, told journalists on Thursday. He said results should be known within the week.
The WHO said the new cases in Equatorial Guinea were found in the provinces of Kie Ntem, Litoral and Centro Sur, all with borders with Cameroon and Gabon.