Although it is not new, we hear about it a lot these days, it is the Marburg virus (MVD), that virus has a fatality rate of up to 90%.
Marburg virus, formerly known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever, is a highly contagious viral hemorrhagic fever that belongs to the same family as Ebola virus disease. Although these two diseases are caused by different viruses, they are clinically similar. Both diseases are rare and have the potential to cause epidemic outbreaks with High mortality rates.
Marburg virus was discovered in 1967 after an outbreak in Marburg, Germany, among workers who were exposed to African green monkeys.
According to a report by the British Daily Mail, human Marburg infection results from prolonged exposure to mines or caves inhabited by colonies of fruit bats, and people remain infectious as long as their blood contains the virus.
The newspaper said that everyone is racing against time to find a vaccine against the Marburg virus, explaining that there are fears of a hidden disease that disguises itself as a common cold for several days, then suddenly causes organ failure and bleeding from multiple openings in the body, with the spread of the disease currently in Africa.
Marburg virus appeared for the first time in Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon, and its symptoms are mild at first, but their severity can increase rapidly.
The newspaper pointed out that the Marburg virus is considered a more deadly version of Ebola, as it spreads in Central Africa, and causes panic, because it can initially disguise itself as a common cold before causing an explosion of horrific symptoms, including organ failure and bleeding from multiple orifices.
An outbreak of the highly deadly virus – which kills up to 9 out of 10 patients – was declared in Equatorial Guinea after 9 deaths and 16 suspected cases.
Neighboring Cameroon announced two suspected cases in teenagers with no travel links to Equatorial Guinea, which indicates that it is more common and is indicated by official case statistics.
The newspaper said that the Marburg virus is caused by a hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola, after an incubation period in the body for several days, if not weeks, so some scientists have likened patients to ghosts as a result of severe bleeding, and it also causes the spread of devastating infections in the body, and blood clotting, which leads to a stop. members out of work.
Marburg is spread between people when a person comes into contact with the skin of an infected person, eye fluids, or mucous membranes of the nose or mouth. ill or died of Marburg virus disease.
It can also be spread through sexual contact or by touching objects contaminated with bodily fluids from a sick person, and it can take 2 days to 3 weeks from exposure to the first appearance of symptoms – before a rapid and bloody deterioration of their health, called the incubation period, is the time when it enters The virus begins to multiply in the body, but it has not yet caused symptoms.
Conquest, evasion and control
When the Marburg virus enters the body, it targets immune cells – which protect the body from invaders (microbes).
As a result, it causes the body to not properly activate the white blood cell response to the virus, allowing it to circulate further in the body and evade most of a person’s natural protections.
When symptoms first appear, they may look flu-like, with fever, headache, chills, and body aches all early signs. Sufferers often have a non-itchy rash that appears all over a person’s face, arms, legs, hands, and feet. Other, less common signs of illness during the first few days include jaundice, severe nausea, abdominal pain, pink eyes, throat irritation, spotting inside the mouth, and very watery diarrhea.
These symptoms occur as immune responses to the virus and also because the virus invades and destroys cells from within themselves.
Usually, around the fifth day, the disease progresses to what doctors call the “early organ stage.” At this stage, the patient may begin to experience bleeding from his eyes, inflammation around the body, and visible swelling around the body, usually on the legs, ankles, and feet. The appearance of patients at this stage has been described as showing drawn “ghost-like” features, deep-set eyes, and expressionless faces. And very lethargic.
Internal bleeding can cause skin discoloration, vomiting of blood, dark and colored stools, pooling of blood in the lungs and stomach, and bleeding gums. Fever remains high during this period, with some people reporting neurological symptoms such as brain swelling, delirium, confusion, irritability and aggressiveness.
Patients often die within 8 or 9 days of first symptoms, according to the World Health Organization, and the fatality rate is 90 percent of patients.
Organ failure occurs when the virus destroys the cells that allow it to function. And if the person survives, he may enter the late organs stage, where he suffers from dementia, and can enter a coma, and suffer permanent damage to the brain and organs.