Ethiopia has confirmed an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in the south of the country, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has said. At least nine cases have been detected in the Jinka area, according to the Africa CDC.
The Marburg virus is one of the deadliest known pathogens, causing severe bleeding, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. It has a 21-day incubation period and is transmitted via contact with body fluids. The fatality rate ranges from 25 to 80 per cent.
The head of the World Health Organization, Ethiopia's Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, confirmed the cases on Friday, two days after the Africa CDC was alerted to a suspected haemorrhagic virus in the region. The Africa CDC said on Saturday that the National Reference Laboratory in Ethiopia had confirmed Marburg virus disease, and that the strain detected shows similarities to those previously identified in east Africa.
Ethiopian health authorities have acted swiftly to contain the outbreak in the Jinka area, and the Africa CDC said it would work with Ethiopia to reduce the risk of the virus spreading to other parts of east Africa. Past outbreaks in the region include an epidemic in Tanzania that killed 10 people in January 2024 and was terminated in March, and Rwanda's first known Marburg epidemic, which caused 15 deaths and was stamped out in December 2024.
There is no approved vaccine or antiviral treatment for the Marburg virus, but oral or intravenous rehydration and treatment of specific symptoms increase patients' chances of survival. Last year, Rwanda trialled an experimental vaccine from the US-based Sabin Vaccine Institute.
