Following the 12 deaths, the government will prioritize those “most at risk” and the “most infected healthcare workers”.
Rwanda has announced that it has started administering a vaccine against the Marburg virus to fight the outbreak of Ebola-like diseases in the East African country.
“Vaccination will begin immediately today,” Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana said at a press conference in the capital Kigali on Sunday.
Marburg virus has killed 12 people in Rwanda since the outbreak was declared on September 27. Officials announced at the time that the first case was found among patients at a medical facility. The source of the outbreak has not yet been confirmed.
The minister said vaccination would focus on “the highest-risk and most exposed healthcare workers working in treatment centres, hospitals, intensive care units and emergency situations, as well as close contacts of confirmed cases.” Ta.
“We believe that vaccines provide us with a powerful tool to stop the spread of this virus,” the minister said. The country has already received shipments of vaccines from companies including the Sabin Vaccine Institute.
The government announced that 46 people have been confirmed to be infected, of whom 29 are in isolation. Health officials have identified at least 400 people who came into contact with people confirmed to have the virus.
Like Ebola, the Marburg virus is thought to originate from fruit bats and is spread to people through close contact with the body fluids of an infected person or surfaces such as contaminated bed sheets.
If Marburg disease is not treated, up to 88% of people with the disease can die.
Symptoms include fever, muscle pain, diarrhea, vomiting and, in some cases, extreme blood loss and death. There is no approved vaccine or treatment for Marburg disease.
According to the World Health Organization, outbreaks and isolated cases of Marburg disease have previously been recorded in Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Ghana.
