The trend in managing the current Marburg virus outbreak in Rwanda is "positive" and health authorities hope to report no new cases and deaths for several days, Health Minister Dr Sabin Nsanzimana has said.

Nsanzimana made the observation on Thursday, October 17, at a virtual press briefing on Marburg and Mpox outbreaks in Africa, which was hosted by Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

Rwanda confirmed the Marburg outbreak on September 27.

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Dr Nsanzimana said that no new case of the virus had been recorded in the last three days.

"We believe that this ring vaccination [for the close contacts of confirmed cases] has played a big role. And also, we believe that the intensive work being done on ground is also helping to capture all the cases and their contacts,” he said.

"So briefly, I just (wanted) to share this good news that the trend is positive, and that we're going hopefully soon or as soon as possible to have zero case for several days and zero death for several days,” he said.

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For the past seven days, the Minister said, people who recovered from treatment centres outnumber those who passed away from Marburg virus.

"We've confirmed 62 cases of Marburg virus in Rwanda; we have recorded 15 deaths,” Nsanzimana said, observing that the case fatality rate, overall, was 24 per cent. On October 17, five new recoveries were reported, bringing the total number to 43. Four patients are still under treatment.

He indicated that confirmed cases are close contacts within the hospital clusters, meaning that the outbreak had not circulated in the community.

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"Overall, the trend is very encouraging, very positive both on the new infections declining significantly, and also the mortality reducing in a trend that I would say it's very encouraging for people on the frontline,” Nsanzimana observed.

Therapeutics and vaccines

Nsanzimana said that more vaccination, especially for the close contacts of confirmed cases was ongoing, "and we've also seen a positive trend in the use of new therapeutics that have contributed to these outcomes."

"We've vaccinated 856 people since we started,” he said, "we anticipate to continue to vaccinate those at high risk, those close contacts but also healthcare workers that are on the frontline, most exposed and other people we see that could be potentially affected.”

Currently, therapeutics being used to treat the virus are monoclonal antibodies, and an antiviral drug called Remdesivir, while inoculation consists of administering a single-dose investigational Marburg vaccine manufactured by Sabin Vaccine Institute, according to the Ministry of Health.