The World Health Organization (WHO) on November 9 stated that Rwanda reached a milestone in combating the Marburg virus disease outbreak, after all the patients of the fatal illness recovered on October 8. ALSO READ: Rwanda: First Marburg patients taken off mechanical ventilation in Africa - official With the development, Rwanda could be declared Marburg-free after 42 days, the surveillance countdown period which is a prerequisite of the WHO, requiring any affected country to monitor the situation of any viral haemorrhagic fever for that period before finally declaring an end to the outbreak. “Rwanda reached a milestone in combating Marburg, with no cases since 30 October and the last patient discharged on 8 November, triggering the 42-day countdown to declare the outbreak over. This progress highlights Rwanda's robust response and the invaluable support of WHO and partners,” WHO stated. https://x.com/WHORwanda/status/1855250610712350897 Rwanda’s Ministry of Health announced that all the remaining cases [the two Marburg virus disease patients who had been receiving treatment], recovered on Friday, November 8, bringing the total recoveries to 51. The ministry added that the outbreak was under control and surveillance continued. ALSO READ: 92% drop in Marburg cases shows ‘outbreak is dying’: Minister Nsanzimana The country carried out more than 7,400 tests and vaccinated more than 1,700 people against the viral disease as of the same date, using a single-dose jab from Sabin Vaccine Institute based in the US, according to the ministry. Rwanda confirmed its first-ever outbreak of the Marburg virus on September 27. The disease had claimed the lives of 15 people as of November 8, while the total confirmed cases were 66. With such data, the disease case fatality rate was 22.7 per cent, which is lower than the global average recorded considering different outbreaks so far. According to WHO, Marburg virus disease is associated with a high case fatality rate – around 50 per cent on average. As noted, case fatality rates have varied from 24 per cent to 88 per cent in past outbreaks.
