President Paul Kagame and the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, met over the weekend to discuss Rwanda’s ongoing response to the Marburg outbreak and the country’s investment in the establishment of a vaccine manufacturing facility in Kigali.
Dr Tedros said; "I expressed my appreciation for [Kagame’s] leadership and the effective management of the outbreak response, along with his commitment to end it soon.”
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The WHO boss, who was on a visit to Rwanda, commended the country’s management of the viral disease and treatment of patients, as he pledged continued support to the country.
Dr Tedros’s visit came at a time when Rwanda is stepping up its efforts to contain the spread of the deadly virus, including the roll-out of a vaccination drive and use of therapeutics like remdesivir.
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According to the Ministry of Health, there have been no new infections of Marburg virus disease in the country for the past six days, indicating significant progress in the fight against the virus, which has claimed the lives of 15 people since September 27.
A total of 62 individuals have contracted the disease, mostly healthcare workers. 45 have recovered and two were still under in treatment by Sunday, October 20, a trend which indicates that the "outbreak is dying,” according to the Minister of Health Dr Sabin Nsanzimana.
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"Over the last five to six days, we have seen zero new infections and zero deaths. We hope this trend continues, but even if we had one case, it provides us with an opportunity to trace every single contact before we declare the outbreak over," Nsanzimana added.
He added; "Two of the patients who have been on intubation for more than ten days have been extubated, which is the best news you can get in the medical profession.”
The development, Dr Nsanzimana explained, marked the first time patients with Marburg had been extubated in Africa, highlighting the potential for recovery even after contracting the virus.
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During his visit, Dr Tedros visited the National Command Post, where he met with the teams leading the fight against the Marburg virus, and also toured the Baho Marburg Centre.
"I was impressed by the professionalism of the health workers, including as they supported their colleagues who were infected. I expressed my gratitude for their resilience and assured them of WHO’s continued support to end the outbreak.”
Official figures from the Ministry of Health indicate that the fatality rate remains at 24 per cent compared to previous Marburg outbreaks, where the case fatality rate was around 88 per cent.
This is thanks in large part to supportive treatment, critical care, and ICU (intensive care unit) specialists, according to officials.
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Speaking at the press conference in Kigali on Sunday, Dr Tedros highlighted the importance of a rapid response and international collaboration in addressing the Marburg virus disease outbreak.
"This reflects the work Rwanda has done over the years to strengthen its health system and develop critical care capacity that can be deployed in both regular hospital care and emergencies," he said.
He stressed the need for strong surveillance systems, vaccination of health care workers, and public awareness to reduce the risk of transmission.
The Marburg virus disease, which causes hemorrhagic fever, has a fatality rate of up to 88 percent and is caused by a virus from the same family as Ebola, according to the WHO.
Symptoms typically appear within seven days of infection and include high fever, severe headaches, and malaise.
In a related development, Ghebreyesus said that during his meeting with President Kagame, other discussions included significant investments in establishing a local vaccine manufacturing facility in Kigali.
Following his tour of the facility, he said that it was "well underway and making significant progress, leveraging lessons learned from COVID-19 to address the equity challenges faced by Africa.”
Rwanda is set to host Africa’s first of three planned mRNA vaccine manufacturing plants, which promise to increase Africa’s sufficiency in vaccine productions.