Rwanda begins vaccination campaign to contain Marburg virus outbreak | News

Following the deaths of 12 people, the government will prioritize the “most vulnerable” and “most vulnerable healthcare workers”.

Rwanda has announced it has started administering doses of the Marburg virus vaccine to combat an outbreak of the Ebola-like disease in the East African country.

“Vaccination will begin immediately today,” Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana said at a news conference on Sunday in the capital Kigali.

The Marburg virus has killed 12 people in Rwanda since it was declared an outbreak on September 27. The first cases were found in patients in health facilities, authorities said at the time. There is still no confirmation about the source of the outbreak.

The minister said vaccinations would focus on the “most vulnerable, most vulnerable healthcare workers working in treatment centers, in hospitals, in intensive care and in emergencies, but also on the close contacts of the confirmed cases.”

“We believe that with vaccines we have an effective tool to stop the spread of this virus,” the minister said. The country has already received deliveries of the vaccines, including from the Sabin Vaccine Institute.

According to the government, there were 46 confirmed cases, 29 of which were isolated. Health authorities have identified at least 400 people who have come into contact with confirmed cases of the virus.

Like Ebola, the Marburg virus is believed to have originated in flying foxes and spread between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected people or with surfaces such as contaminated bed sheets.

Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88 percent of those affected.

Symptoms include fever, muscle pain, diarrhea, vomiting and, in some cases, extreme blood loss, often leading to death. There is no approved vaccine or treatment for Marburg.

According to the World Health Organization, Marburg outbreaks and isolated cases have been recorded in the past in Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Ghana.