Nine Dead In New Outbreak Of ‘Eye-Bleeding’ Virus – World Health Experts Raise Alarm

Global health officials have issued a warning after nine people died in a new epidemic of a ‘eye-bleeding’ Ebola-like virus.

Marburg, one of the deadliest diseases ever known, has already affected ten people in Tanzania, where the epidemic was formally announced last week.

According to Africa’s health agency, nine people have died as a result of these illnesses, indicating that the virus has a 90% death rate.

The incidents were recorded from Tanzania’s Kagera region. The region, located in the country’s northwest, is home to over three million people.

However, because the country’s principal international airport in the city, Dar es Salaam, is easily accessible by train, specialists are concerned that the sickness will spread further, The Sun said.

Ngashi Ngongo of the Africa Centre for Disease Control Centre (CDC) told an online briefing that they are working with the World Health Organization (WHO) to reduce the impact of the outbreak.

Authorities have identified ‘approximately 281 contacts’ from the ten patients, who are being actively monitored for infection.

“There have been a total of 31 tests that have been conducted, two confirmed, and 29 I think, that are negative,” Ngongo said.

Marburg is a haemorrhagic fever when organs and blood vessels are injured, causing bleeding internally or from the eyes, mouth, and ears.

The virus can be transmitted by contacting or handling an infected person’s body fluids, contaminated objects, or infected wild animals.

According to the World Health Organization, it has a case-fatality ratio (CFR) of up to 88 percent, which means it can kill nearly nine out of every ten persons infected.

The outbreak in Tanzania occurs less than a month after a Marburg outbreak in neighboring Rwanda was officially declared ended.

There were 66 afflicted people, with healthcare personnel accounting for nearly 80% of the total.

The government recorded 15 deaths, and Rwanda’s reaction was recognized internationally for its low death rate of 23%, the lowest ever for a Marburg epidemic in Africa.

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