Marburg virus disease is a highly virulent disease that causes haemorrhagic fever, with a fatality ratio of up to 88%. It is in the same family as the virus that ...Home/Healthtopics/MarburgvirusdiseaseOverviewMarburgvirusdiseaseisahighlyvirulentdiseasethatcauseshaemorrhagicfever,withafatalityratioofupto88%.ItisinthesamefamilyasthevirusthatcausesEbolavirusdisease.TwolargeoutbreaksthatoccurredsimultaneouslyinMarburgandFrankfurtinGermany,andinBelgrade,Serbia,in1967,ledtotheinitialrecognitionofthedisease.TheoutbreakwasassociatedwithlaboratoryworkusingAfricangreenmonkeys(Cercopithecusaethiops)importedfromUganda.Subsequently,outbreaksandsporadiccaseshavebeenreportedinAngola,DemocraticRepublicoftheCongo,Kenya,SouthAfrica(inapersonwithrecenttravelhistorytoZimbabwe)andUganda.In2008,twoindependentcaseswerereportedintravellerswhovisitedacaveinhabitedbyRousettusbatcoloniesinUganda. HumaninfectionwithMarburgvirusdiseaseinitiallyresultsfromprolongedexposuretominesorcavesinhabitedbyRousettusbatcolonies.Onceanindividualisinfectedwiththevirus,Marburgcanspreadthroughhuman-to-humantransmissionviadirectcontact(throughbrokenskinormucousmembranes)withtheblood,secretions,organsorotherbodilyfluidsofinfectedpeople,andwithsurfacesandmaterials(e.g.bedding,clothing)contaminatedwiththesefluids. SymptomsIllnesscausedbyMarburgvirusbeginsabruptly,withhighfever,severeheadacheandseveremalaise.Muscleachesandpainsareacommonfeature.Severewaterydiarrhoea,abdominalpainandcramping,nauseaandvomitingcanbeginonthethirdday.Diarrhoeacanpersistforaweek.Theappearanceofpatientsatthisphasehasbeendescribedasshowing“ghost-like”drawnfeatures,deep-seteyes,expressionlessfacesandextremelethargy.Anon-itchyrashhasbeennotedbetween2and7daysaftertheonsetofsymptoms.  Manypatientsdevelopseverehaemorrhagicmanifestationswithin7days,andfatalcasesusuallyhavebleeding,oftenfrommultipleareas.Freshbloodinvomitusandfaecesisoftenaccompaniedbybleedingfromthenose,gumsandvagina.Spontaneousbleedingatvenepuncturesites(whereintravenousaccess