World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that 150 contacts, and four high-risk contacts, have been identified after a patient in Guinea was found to have the Marburg virus, marking the first time it has been reported in West Africa.
"About 150 contacts have been identified and are being followed up, including three family members and a health worker, who have been identified as high-risk close contacts," Tedros told journalists in Geneva.
The patient was a man who died on 2 August, eight days after the onset of symptoms. The village where he lived is near the borders with both Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Marburg disease has a nearly 90 cent fatality rate, according to WHO. Currently there is no treatment against it, although vaccines are under development, but rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids and treatment of specific symptoms, improves survival.
