We do not wish to appear alarmist, but by the time one feels symptoms from Marburg’s, Ebola or Mpox, even — it is too late. You’ve been contagious for between 24 and 56 hours. So it is probably time for even asymptomatic health workers to voluntarily take a PCR test, before travelling into countries outside of continental Africa, given that multiple viral outbreaks are now afoot.

Of course, this effort must rely on voluntary responsibilities. And the very good news is that even though one of these travellers was experiencing flu-like symptoms, the Marburg possibility has been ruled out. Even so, the pair has agreed to a short observational isolation protocol, just to be certain. That is the ethical and responsible thing to do, given how contagious these strains are. Here’s the latest from the UK Independent reporting overnight:

…Two passengers with suspected cases of Marburg virus in Germany have tested negative for the highly contagious disease. The travellers — returning from Rwanda to Hamburg via Frankfurt — were taken for examination at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) on Wednesday (2 October)….

Platforms at Hamburg Central Station were closed yesterday after one of the passengers contacted doctors while on the ICE train to Hamburg, concerned they had contracted a tropical disease in Rwanda.

Hamburg’s Social Affairs Authority confirmed that the pair had worked in a hospital in Rwanda as part of their medical studies and tested negative for Marburg virus in a PCR test.

According to the authority, at no time did either passenger have “complaints or symptoms corresponding to the disease” after one of the medical students, 26, had minimal contact with a patient infected with Marburg on 25 September….

Rwanda is currently experiencing an outbreak of Marburg virus with 36 cases, 25 people in isolation and 11 deaths confirmed as of Wednesday in the landlocked African country….

Now you know, and be excellent to one another — as there is no approved vaccine as of this afternoon for Marburg. Onward.

नमस्ते

We did mention over the weekend that this flare-up, the one which caused the closure of the border to crossing to Cameroon in northern Guinea… might turn out to be Marburg’s — not Ebola. That is in fact the case (though this is the first known outbreak of Marburg — inside Equatorial Guinea’s borders).

The WHO has now confirmed that at least 16 active cases are being monitored, and nine deaths seem to have been Marburg-related. Indeed, one additional challenge will be that while there are promising Marburg vaccine candidates undergoing early testing (Phase I), it may take a minute… to get the vaccine stock down to Guinea, and start an experimental in-situ ring vaccine program — for contacts of contacts. It is every bit as lethal as Ebola to be certain, so this is cause for real concern.

Here’s the latest, from WHO:

…Equatorial Guinea today confirmed its first-ever outbreak of Marburg virus disease. Preliminary tests carried out following the deaths of at least nine people in the country’s eastern Kie Ntem Province turned out positive on one of the samples for the viral haemorrhagic fever….

Equatorial Guinean health authorities sent samples to the Institut Pasteur reference laboratory in Senegal with support from World Health Organization (WHO) to determine the cause of the disease after an alert by a district health official on 7 February. Of the eight samples tested at Institut Pasteur, one turned out positive for the virus. So far nine deaths and 16 suspected cases with symptoms including fever, fatigue and blood-stained vomit and diarrhoea have been reported….

We need to have this vaccine readied, replicated and vetted, STAT (it was not developed at any for profit pharma concern, but a government affiliated institute) — for just as we saw with the last Ebola outbreak in Uganda, in late 2022… the chances are good that at least one exposed contact of a contact… could easily end up on a plane out of Guinea. . . or may have already left the country… for parts unknown. Public health efforts again will need to be well coordinated, and swift here.

[Onward, still expecting that local Margate (UK) authorities will place the freezer back on the property, as soon as they weld the lid open, so no one may be trapped inside — no public danger.]

नमस्ते