Equatorial Guinea announced its first outbreak of the highly-infectious Marburg disease — a hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola. The disease has a fatality rate that can reach 88%.
The virus spills over from fruit bats to humans, and once transferred can spread between people through bodily fluids with the virus able to persist for several days on surfaces. The last outbreak of Marburg ended last September in Ghana, with three confirmed cases.
There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved for the virus, but there are candidates. Researchers held an emergency meeting on Tuesday to examine the prospect for quickly rolling out clinical trials during the current outbreak.
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About the author
Sara Jervingsarajerving
Sara Jerving is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, VICE News, and Bloomberg News among others. Sara holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Lorana Sullivan fellow. She was a finalist for One World Media's Digital Media Award in 2021; a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2018; and she was part of a VICE News Tonight on HBO team that received an Emmy nomination in 2018. She received the Philip Greer Memorial Award from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2014.
