Marburg virus: Rwanda begins vaccine trials amid fears of outbreak of deadly disease

Rwanda will begin vaccine trials for the fatal Marburg virus after the Ebola -like disease killed 12 people in the African country.

Health minister Sabin Nsanzimana said vaccinations would focus on those most at risk of contracting the virus, including healthcare workers and close contacts of confirmed cases.

The Marburg virus is from the same family as Ebola and kills around half of the people it infects, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Last week, a station in Hamburg, Germany, was partially closed over fears that two passengers who had just travelled from Rwanda may have been carrying the highly contagious virus .

One of the passengers had recently worked at a hospital in Rwanda where people with the virus were being treated.

Marburg symptoms include high fever, severe headaches and malaise within seven days of infection and later severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

It is transmitted to humans by fruit bats and then spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of those infected.

Rwanda’s first outbreak of Marburg was detected in late September, with 46 cases and 12 deaths confirmed so far. Neighbouring Tanzania reported an outbreak last year.

Around 300 people in Rwanda are also being monitored after having close contact with infected patients.

The vaccine doses have been supplied by the Sabin Vaccine Institute, a US-based non-profit organisation.

Marburg was first identified in Germany and Belgrade in 1967, after laboratory work with African green monkeys from Uganda led to human infections.

Since then, there have been sporadic outbreaks and cases in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo , Kenya, South Africa and Uganda.

While there are no approved treatments for Marburg, a number of vaccine candidates are currently undergoing clinical trials.

The team that developed the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine at Oxford University began a trial of its Marburg candidate this summer in the UK.

Rwandans have also been urged to avoid physical contact to curb the spread of infection.

Strict measures include the suspension of school and hospital visits as well as a restriction on the number of those who can attend funerals for Marburg victims.

The US Embassy in Kigali has urged its staff to work remotely and avoid visiting offices.

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