Current Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak Causes Eight Fatalities

With eight fatalities and numerous infections reported, the Republic of Rwanda's Marburg virus disease (MVD) outbreak has raised global alarms as the origin of these infections has yet to be determined.

Since September 29, 2024, Rwandan health authorities have reported 26 confirmed cases in seven of the country's 30 districts.

Additionally, 161 people who came into contact with the reported cases have been identified and are being monitored. Staff at two hospitals in Kigali, home to about 1.7 million residents, are also being evaluated.

In support of the ongoing efforts, the World Health Organization (WHO) is mobilizing expertise, outbreak response tools, and emergency medical supplies to reinforce the control measures rolled out to curb the virus.

The WHO says illness caused by Marburg infections begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache, and severe malaise. Many patients develop severe hemorrhagic symptoms within seven days. The virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces, and materials.

"We're rapidly setting all the critical outbreak response aspects in motion to support Rwanda halt the spread of this virus swiftly and effectively," said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, in a press release on September 28, 2024.

WHO is also coordinating efforts to reinforce collaborative cross-border measures for readiness and response in countries neighboring Rwanda to ensure timely detection and control of the virus to avert further spread.

As of September 30, 2024, the WHO has not issued a travel alert regarding this Marburg outbreak. However, Rwanda is included in the clade I mpox outbreak in Africa.

Since 1967, when MVD was first recognized in a German lab spillover event, countries such as DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Serbia, South Africa, Tanzania, Yugoslavia, Uganda, and Rwanda have confirmed cases.

The WHO is coordinating a consortium of experts to promote the preclinical and clinical development of vaccines and therapeutics against MVD.

In March 2022, the WHO R&D Blueprint team defined the Strategic Agenda for Filovirus Research and Monitoring to establish research priorities for developing vaccines targeting filovirus diseases during the next decade.

While no product has been approved yet, one innovative Marburg vaccine candidate has progressed in 2024.

Public Health Vaccines, LLC launched its Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT06265012) in March 2024 to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of its single-dose PHV01 (rVSV∆G-MARV-GP [Angola]) vaccine. The PHV01 vaccine is leveraging the proven recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus vector platform initially developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

The U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has funded this vaccine research. If PHV01's development continues to succeed, BARDA has the option to provide up to $72 million in funding to continue development through Phase 2 clinical testing.

Update: As of September 30, 2024, Rwanda reported its 9th Marburg-related fatality.