Health
Ebola-Like Infections in Rwanda Foretell More Outbreaks
- Marburg disease outbreak is the first ever seen in Rwanda
- Gilead donates doses of Remdesivir antiviral to fight outbreak
Rwanda’s first recorded infections of the Marburg virus, an Ebola-like hemorrhagic fever, is another sign that outbreaks of dangerous animal-borne diseases will become more frequent in an increasingly connected world, according to the US government’s main health ambassador.
Rwanda’s health ministry says at least 11 people have died from the disease, which is carried by Egyptian rousette bats, and 25 are in isolation since the spread started in an intensive care unit in Kigali, the capital. Cases have now been found in about eight of Rwanda’s 30 districts, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.