Rwanda has limited the size of funerals for Marburg virus victims to help control the spread of the highly infectious disease.
The outbreak, Rwanda’s first, has claimed eight lives, as confirmed by the country’s health ministry on Friday. Marburg, part of the same virus family as Ebola, can be deadly, with a mortality rate of up to 88%.
It is transmitted to humans from fruit bats and then spread through contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals.
To prevent further transmission, the health ministry has issued new rules, stating that no more than 50 people can attend the funeral of someone who has died from the virus.
What is the Marburg virus, and how dangerous is it?
“Normal business and other activities” can continue in the East African country, said the advisory, published on Sunday evening.
However, it also urged the public to avoid close contact with “symptomatic individuals.” The ministry listed symptoms such as fever, headaches, muscle aches, vomiting, and diarrhoea.
The Marburg virus can lead to death due to severe blood loss. According to the health ministry’s new guidelines, hospital patients will not be allowed visitors for the next 14 days, with only one caregiver permitted per patient at any given time.
In many developing nations, families often assist with essential tasks like washing and feeding, which nurses would typically handle elsewhere.
On Saturday, when the death toll reached six, Rwanda’s health minister revealed that the majority of those who died were healthcare workers in an ICU.
Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, from Boston University’s Centre on Emerging Infectious Diseases, told the BBC’s Newsday program that controlling the virus may be difficult as most cases have emerged in Kigali, a densely populated city, unlike previous outbreaks in remote rural areas where containment was easier.
However, she added that there is hope as Rwanda has “a lot better infrastructure and history of public health coordination than many other countries.”.
Rwanda announced it is ramping up efforts in contact tracing, surveillance,, and testing to control the spread of the Marburg virus. On Sunday, the health minister revealed that around 300 individuals who had been in contact with confirmed cases are being closely monitored.
The government has called on citizens to maintain proper hygiene, including regular hand washing. This marks the first confirmed case of Marburg in Rwanda. Neighbouring Tanzania faced an outbreak in 2023, and Uganda saw three fatalities from the virus in 2017.