What are the symptoms of Marburg?
The incubation period (time from infection to onset of symptoms) varies from two days to three weeks.
Initial symptoms include high fever, severe headache and fatigue. Muscle aches are common, as is diarrhoea, stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting.
The World Health Organization (WHO) describes patients at this phase as “ghost-like”, with drawn features, deep-set eyes and extreme lethargy.
“Many patients develop severe haemorrhagic manifestations between five and seven days, and fatal cases usually have some form of bleeding, often from multiple areas”, adds the WHO.
“Fresh blood in vomitus and faeces is often accompanied by bleeding from the nose, gums, and vagina”.
The virus can also cause confusion and aggression in some patients.
“In fatal cases, death occurs most often between eight and nine days after symptom onset, usually preceded by severe blood loss and shock”, says the WHO.
How is Marburg transmitted?
Human infections typically start in areas where people have exposure to mines or caves inhabited by infected fruit bat colonies.
Human-to-human transmission is caused by direct touch or droplets of blood, sweat, saliva and other secretions.
Contaminated clothing and bedding is a risk, as are burial ceremonies that involve direct contact with the deceased.
Healthcare workers have been frequently infected while treating Marburg patients.
