Ghana has confirmed the first cases of the deadly Marburg virus.

Ghana has confirmed its first two cases of the deadly Marburg virus, a highly infectious disease related to the Ebola virus. According to the report, both patients died recently in a hospital in the Ashanti region. Their samples tested positive earlier this month and have now been confirmed by a Senegalese laboratory. According to health officials in the West African country, 98 people have been quarantined as suspected contact cases. The World Health Organization (WHO), which is assisting Ghana's health authorities, has praised the country's quick response. "This is good because Marburg can easily spiral out of control if immediate and decisive action is not taken," said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Africa director. There is no cure for Marburg, but doctors say drinking can help.

The patients had diarrhoea, fever, nausea, and vomiting, according to WHO, who added that more than 90 contacts are being monitored.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Marburg is a highly infectious viral hemorrhagic fever in the same family as the more well-known Ebola virus disease, with a fatality rate of up to 88 percent. The illness "begins abruptly with high fever, severe headache, and malaise," according to the report.

According to WHO, the virus is transmitted to humans by fruit bats and can then be spread human-to-human through direct contact with infected people's bodily fluids or surfaces and materials contaminated with these fluids. The virus is primarily spread through contact with small droplets produced by an infected person coughing, sneezing, or talking. While a significant proportion of infected people may be asymptomatic, the most common clinical symptoms are fever, cough, acute respiratory distress, fatigue, and failure to resolve after 3 to 5 days of antibiotic treatment. Pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome are possible complications.

 

"Further testing at the Institute Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal has corroborated the results," the Ghana Health Service (GHS) announced on Sunday. GHS is working to reduce the risk of the virus spreading, including isolating all identified contacts, none of whom have developed symptoms so far, according to the organisation.

The World Health Organization stated that containment measures were being implemented and that additional resources would be deployed in response to the outbreak in Ghana. The WHO also warned that "without immediate and decisive action, Marburg could quickly spiral out of control."

The Marburg virus has no approved vaccines or antiviral treatments. However, according to WHO, a patient's chances of survival can be improved with care such as oral or intravenous rehydration and treatment of specific symptoms.

To help reduce the risk of the virus spreading, the Ghana Health Service has urged Ghanaians to avoid mines and caves inhabited by fruit bats and to thoroughly cook all meat products before consumption. According to the health service, fruit bats are natural hosts of the Marburg virus.

The first case was a 26-year-old male who checked into a hospital on June 26 and died on June 27. The second was a 51-year-old male who went to the hospital on June 28 and died the same day, the WHO said, adding that both men sought treatment at the same hospital. The two patients in southern Ghana’s Ashanti region had symptoms including diarrhoea, fever, nausea and vomiting, before dying in hospital.