Public Health Center explains whether there is a risk of Marburg virus epidemic in Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
Epidemic security experts estimate the risks of a Marburg epidemic in Ukraine to be low. No cases of this disease have ever been registered in the country, and there are no conditions for complicating the situation.
The risks of an epidemic caused by Marburg fever in Ukraine are recognized by epidemic safety experts as low. There are also no conditions for complicating the epidemic situation in the country. This was reported to the journalist of UNN by the Center for Public Health of the Ministry of Health.
No cases of Marburg disease have ever been registered in Ukraine. Given the absence of asymptomatic and mild forms of the disease, which greatly facilitate diagnosis, and the implementation of a set of preventive measures outlined in the International Health Regulations (2005), the risks of an epidemic caused by Marburg fever in Ukraine are recognized by epidemic security experts as low
It is also reported that there are currently no conditions for a complication of the epidemic situation with Marburg fever in Ukraine.
The CDC noted that Marburg fever (green monkey disease) is an acute viral disease with high contagiousness. The causative agent of the disease was first isolated from the blood of a laboratory assistant who was infected in a research laboratory in Marburg while working with cultures of African green monkey organ cells.
The Marburg virus includes two genera, Marburgvirus and Ebolavirus, and is spread by droplets and contact, especially through direct contact with blood and other biological fluids of patients. Given the peculiarities of the epidemic process, healthcare workers are at high risk of infection, especially in healthcare facilities where the system of infection control measures is not effective. Humans can also become infected with Marburg virus through contact with saliva or other biological fluids of bats, which are the main natural reservoirs of the virus.
The CDC reports that the clinical signs of the disease usually appear within 5-10 days, similar to the symptoms of Ebola: fever, headache, muscle pain, diarrhea, bleeding. The severe course of the disease is caused by the rapid multiplication of the virus and its negative impact on the body's immune system.
The mortality rate among such patients ranges from 23% to 90%, depending on the patient's access to medical care. According to statistical data, outbreaks of Marburg fever are mostly limited to the countries of the African continent, with the most active cases being reported in Uganda, Zimbabwe and Kenya. On the European continent, the only cases of the disease occurred in 1967 in Germany and Yugoslavia, and were associated with laboratory tests of infected monkeys.
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"The current epidemic situation regarding the spread of the Marburg virus in the world was complicated in the fall of 2024 by an outbreak of the disease registered in the eastern part of Africa - in different provinces of Rwanda. According to the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention, since September 27, 2024, when the first cases were reported in Rwanda, and as of October 30, 2024, 66 cases of the disease have been reported (49 people have recovered) caused by the Marburg virus. In total, there were 15 deaths," the CDC informs.
The Center for Public Health also noted that the Rwandan government, with the support of CDC experts, is actively working to eliminate the outbreak, and the set of measures taken is aimed not only at controlling the outbreak within the country but also at ensuring international security. Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) assesses the overall threat level for Rwanda as high, and at the international level as low.
