Marburg virus is the disease's causal agent. MVD has a case fatality ratio of up to 88 percent, however this number may be significantly reduced with proper patient care. Following simultaneous epidemics in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany, as well as in Belgrade in Serbia, the Marburg viral illness was first identified in 1967.
The Filoviridae family includes both the Marburg and the Ebola viruses (filovirus). Although the two illnesses are brought on by distinct viruses, they are clinically identical. Both illnesses are uncommon and have the potential to spread in high-fatality outbreaks.
The illness was first identified in 1967 as a result of two significant epidemics that happened concurrently in Marburg, Frankfurt, and Belgrade, Serbia, as well as in Germany and Germany. The epidemic was connected to African samples used in lab testing.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa (in a person with recent travel history to Zimbabwe), Uganda, and Angola have all since reported outbreaks and isolated cases. Two separate instances were recorded in 2008 in tourists who had visited a cave in Uganda that was home to Rousettus bat populations.
Transmission
Initial exposure to mines or caves where Rousettus bat populations are present causes human MVD infection.
Via direct human-to-human contact (through damaged skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs, or other body fluids of infected persons, as well as with surfaces and items (such as bedding, clothes), contaminated with these fluids, Marburg spreads from person to person.
While attending to patients with suspected or proven MVD, healthcare personnel have regularly become infected. Close contact with patients has led to this when infection control measures are not carefully followed. More severe illness, quick deterioration, and probably a greater death rate are linked to transmission via contaminated injection equipment or through needle-stick wounds.
Direct contact with the deceased's corpse during funeral rites has been linked to the spread of Marburg.
As long as the virus is present in a person's blood, they are contagious.
Marburg virus illness signs
The time from infection to the start of symptoms, or incubation period, ranges from 2 to 21 days.
The Marburg virus causes sudden onset illness characterised by a high temperature, excruciating headaches, and excruciating malaise. A typical aspect is aches and pains in the muscles. On the third day, severe watery diarrhoea, cramps and discomfort in the abdomen, nausea, and vomiting are all possible.
A week might go by with diarrhoea. Patients at this stage have been characterised as having drawn features that are "ghost-like," deep-set eyes, expressionless faces, and profound lethargy. Between 2 and 7 days following the beginning of symptoms, non-itchy rash was a characteristic seen in the majority of patients in the 1967 European epidemic.
Between five and seven days, many patients experience severe hemorrhagic symptoms, and fatal cases frequently involve numerous sites of haemorrhage. Bleeding from the nose, gums, and vagina frequently accompany fresh blood in vomitus and faeces. At the sites of venepuncture (where intravenous access is established to provide fluids or draw blood samples), spontaneous bleeding can be particularly problematic.
Patients have experienced persistently high fevers during the acute stage of the disease. Confusion, irritability, and aggression can result from central nervous system involvement. In the late stages of the illness, there have been sporadic reports of orchitis (inflammation of one or both testicles) (15 days).