Man Dies Of Suspected Marburg Virus In Mityana Hospital

Mityana Hospital Patients Ward

One person suspected of having contracted the highly infectious Marburg hemorrhage fever died in Mityana hospital on Sunday.

Mityana Hospital Patients  Ward
Mityana Hospital Patients Ward

The National Taskforce team from the ministry of health, rushed to the district, where they took over management of the body, from which, they took samples and later buried the body under tight security in Muduuma village, Mpigi district.

Ministry of Health Spokesperson Rukia Nakamatte said that samples taken from Steven Kizito’s body have been sent to the Uganda Virus Research Institute and results are expected out tomorrow.

“The samples were taken to UVRI and we are waiting for the result, either today evening or tomorrow to conform whether the victim died of Marburg or not,” said Nakamatte.

Mityana hospital superintended Paul Kalenge, said the hospital is on high alert for any more suspected cases.

The ministry of health announced the outbreak of the Marburg fever a fortnight ago after it recorded one death of a 30 year old Laboratory technician at Mengo Hospital, in Kampala. The victim was a health worker at Mpigi Health Center IV.

A total of 11 people who earlier got into contact with the Marburg confirmed case and developed signs of the disease tested negative. However about 100 are still being monitored by the Ministry of Health and samples from eight suspects are being investigated at the Uganda Virus Research Institute.

The Ministry of Health with support from Medicens San Frontiers (MSF) and the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has so far trained a total of 103 health workers from Mengo Hospital.

The team was trained in Marburg prevention, treatment and control. Others were trained in sample picking and infection control.

A team of experts was last week dispatched to Kagando Hospital in Kasese district to guide health workers in infection control measures.

Isolation facility has been set up at Mulago National Referral Hospital in addition to the National Isolation Center in Entebbe to attend to all suspect and confirmed cases in Kampala and neighboring districts.

The Marburg virus causes severe viral haemorrhagic fever in humans. Case fatality rates in Marburg haemorrhagic fever outbreaks have ranged from 24% to 88%. The fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family, are considered to be natural hosts of Marburg virus.

The Marburg virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through human-to-human transmission.

No specific antiviral treatment or vaccine is available.

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