Rwandan authorities have restricted the scale of funerals for Marburg virus victims in a bid to curb an outbreak of the extremely contagious illness.
Rwanda’s Ministry of Well being confirmed on Friday that eight individuals have died in Rwanda’s first outbreak of the virus.
Marburg virus belongs to the identical virus household as Ebola, and its fatality price is as excessive as 88%. It’s transmitted to people by means of fruit bats after which to people by means of contact with the bodily fluids of contaminated individuals.
In new steering to cease the unfold of Marburg virus, the Division of Well being mentioned not more than 50 individuals ought to attend funerals of people that have died from the illness.
An advisory issued on Sunday night time mentioned “regular enterprise and different actions” may proceed within the East African nation.
Nonetheless, it additionally urged the general public to keep away from shut contact with “symptomatic individuals”. The well being ministry lists signs comparable to fever, headache, muscle aches, vomiting and diarrhea.
The virus may cause dying on account of excessive blood loss.
Well being Ministry pointers say no visits by hospital sufferers shall be allowed for the subsequent 14 days.
The steering says sufferers ought to solely be cared for by one caregiver at a time.
In lots of creating nations, sufferers’ family members carry out fundamental care duties, comparable to cleansing and feeding, which might be typically carried out by caregivers in different nations.
The official dying toll was put at six on Saturday, with Rwanda’s well being minister saying a lot of the victims had been medical workers in hospital intensive care models.
A lot of the reported instances are within the capital Kigali.
Rwanda mentioned it was stepping up contact tracing, surveillance and detection to assist curb the unfold of the epidemic.
The well being minister mentioned on Sunday that officers had been tracing round 300 individuals who had come into contact with somebody contaminated with the Marburg virus.
Authorities urge individuals to observe good hygiene, comparable to washing palms regularly.
That is the primary time Marburg virus has been recognized in Rwanda.
Neighboring Tanzania reported an outbreak in 2023, whereas three individuals died in Uganda in 2017.
