DODOMA: A mysterious disease that killed five people in Tanzania has been identified as Marburg haemorrhagic fever, a cousin of Ebola, the health ministry said on Tuesday.
Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu said that the public health laboratory results have confirmed that the Marburg virus causes this disease.
The minister urged citizens to remain calm “as the government has managed to control the spread of the disease.”
She added that three patients are receiving treatment in the hospital, and the authorities are tracing 161 contacts.
“There is no need to panic or halt economic activities as Tanzania is not the first country. All we need to control the infectious viral disease,” Mwalimu said.
The East African country last week sent a rapid response team to the northwestern region of Kagera, which borders Uganda, to probe the illness.
The Marburg virus is an extremely dangerous microbe that causes severe fever, often accompanied by bleeding and organ failure.
WHO applauds Tanzania’s reaction to outbreak
It is part of the so-called filovirus family that includes Ebola, which has wreaked havoc in several previous African outbreaks.
The UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) applauded Tanzania’s rapid reaction to the outbreak, adding that it stood ready to ensure “there are no gaps in response.”
“I call upon the community members to join hands with the government to make sure that the contacts are identified and those who need care are given at the right time,” WHO country representative Zabulon Yoti said.
Neighbouring Uganda, which witnessed its last outbreak in 2017, said it was on “high alert.”
