Four districts put on high risk Marbug alert

Musanze, Gicumbi, Nyagatare and Burera districts that border Uganda are on high alert over the Marburg hemorrhagic fever.Efforts are being intensified to ensure that the outbreak of the highly contagious deadly disease doesn’t spread to Rwanda.Therese Mujawamariya, the Vice Mayor in charge of social affairs in Gicumbi District, yesterday said the district shares a boundary with Kabale District in Uganda where the out break was confirmed, having claimed five people by press time. Mujawamariya told The New Times she was meeting with a team from immigration and other officials at Gatuna border to discuss means of preventing the epidemic and sensitising residents. Gatuna is the main border town between Rwanda and Uganda.“We are also going to minimise movement to and from Kabale district to ensure that infected persons don’t cross into Rwanda. People should travel through the official borders and also report immediately any cases with symptoms of this disease,” she said.Mujawamariya urged the public to remain vigilant and avoid direct contact with persons who have the Marburg virus symptoms.Five people in Kitumba Sub-county, Kabale district, Uganda have so far died of the Marburg virus, a disease spread through bodily fluids, including blood, excrement, saliva, and vomit.Alert warnings have been issued to all health centres on how to detect and handle cases. Trainings on prevention and management of viral hemorrhagic fevers have also been conducted for all healthcare providers in district hospitals and health centres in the high-risk districts.Symptoms of the disease include fever, severe headache, muscle and joint pain, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, bleeding, sore throat and dizziness. Most of the patients with this virus usually have some form of bleeding, often from multiple sites between five to seven days.The virus spreads through direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected persons. Transmission can also occur if one handles ill or dead infected wild animals such as monkeys.Its incubation period is three to nine days. Studies suggest that the African fruit bat or Rousettus aegyptiacus is a reservoir for the virus.So far, confirmed cases of Marburg have occurred in Zimbabwe, Angola, Kenya, and Democratic Republic of Congo and currently Uganda.

National

Four districts put on high risk Marbug alert