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BLUE UPDATE

Marburg Virus : WHO Raises Alarm as 9 Dies From Eye Bleeding Virus.

Global health officials have sounded the alarm after nine people died in a new outbreak of the Marburg virus which “makes blood flow from the eyes.

“Marburg, one of the deadliest pathogens ever discovered, has already infected ten people in Tanzania since the country officially announced the outbreak last week.Of those infections, nine have died, the African health agency said, reflecting the virus’s 90% fatality rate.

Cases have been reported in Tanzania’s Kagera region. The area is located in the northwest of the country and has a population of nearly three million. But with the country’s main international airport in the capital Dar es Salaam easily accessible by train, experts fear the disease could spread further, the Sun reported.

Ngashi Ngongo of the Africa Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said in an online briefing that they were doing everything they could with the World Health Organization (WHO) to limit the assessment of the outbreak. Authorities have identified “about 281 contacts” of the 10 cases, who are being closely monitored for infections.”A total of 31 tests have been carried out, two confirmed and 29 I believe are negative,” Ngongo said.

Marburg fever is a hemorrhagic fever in which organs and blood vessels are damaged, causing internal bleeding or bleeding from the eyes, mouth, and ears.The virus can be spread by touching or handling the body fluids of an infected person, contaminated objects, or infected wild animals.

The WHO says the case fatality rate (CFR) of the virus is higher than 88%, meaning it can kill almost nine out of ten people.The outbreak in Tanzania comes less than a month after a Marburg outbreak in neighboring Rwanda was officially declared.

A total of 66 people have been infected, of whom about 80% are health workers.The country has reported 15 deaths and Rwanda’s response has been praised internationally for its low fatality rate of 23%, the lowest ever recorded for a Marburg outbreak in Africa.

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