Marburg virus disease in Rwanda

On 20 December 2024, the Rwanda Ministry of Health declared the outbreak of Marburg virus disease over

• This updates the news item of 10 October 2024

On 20 December 2024, the Rwanda Ministry of Health declared the outbreak of Marburg virus disease (MVD) over.

A total of 66 confirmed cases and 15 deaths were recorded. Almost 80% of the cases were among health workers who were infected while providing clinical care to their colleagues and other patients. The risk of re-emergence of MVD still remains even after the official declaration of the end of the outbreak [1].

This is the first time MVD had been reported in Rwanda.

An emergency response by Rwandan health authorities, with support from World Health Organization (WHO) and partners enabled this outbreak to be controlled.

The reservoir host of Marburg virus, the fruit bat, is widely distributed across Africa. MVD can be a severe, sometimes fatal haemorrhagic fever, which is clinically almost indistinguishable from Ebola virus disease [2]. Outbreaks and sporadic cases have occurred in previous years in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Ghana, Guinea, Uganda, South Africa (associated with travel from Zimbabwe), and Tanzania [2, 3].

The largest outbreak on record to date occurred in 2005 in Angola and involved 374 cases, including 329 deaths.