Main name of condition: Marburg virus

Other names or spellings: Marburg disease, Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever, Marburg

What is Marburg virus?

Brief description of Marburg virus: Serious virus related to Ebola.
Parent types of Marburg virus: Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers, Filovirus, Diseases contagious from animals

Who gets Marburg virus?

Geography Profile for Marburg virus: Marburg virus is indigenous to Africa. While the geographic area to which it is native is unknown, this area appears to include at least parts of Uganda and Western Kenya, and perhaps Zimbabwe.

How serious is Marburg virus?

Complications of Marburg virus: see complications of Marburg virus

What causes Marburg virus?

Causes of Marburg virus: see causes of Marburg virus
Risk factors for Marburg virus: see risk factors for Marburg virus

What are the symptoms of Marburg virus?

Incubation period for Marburg virus: 5-10 days
Symptoms of Marburg virus: see symptoms of Marburg virus

How is it treated?

Treatments for Marburg virus: see treatments for Marburg virus
Prevention of Marburg virus: see prevention of Marburg virus

Prognosis of Marburg virus

About prognosis: The ‘prognosis’ of Marburg virus usually refers to the likely outcome of Marburg virus. The prognosis of Marburg virus may include the duration of Marburg virus, chances of complications of Marburg virus, probable outcomes, prospects for recovery, recovery period for Marburg virus, survival rates, death rates, and other outcome possibilities in the overall prognosis of Marburg virus. Naturally, such forecast issues are by their nature unpredictable.

Mortality rate for Marburg virus: The case-fatality rate for Marburg hemorrhagic fever is between 23-25%.

Causes of Marburg virus

Cause details for Marburg virus: As with Ebola virus, the actual animal host for Marburg virus also remains a mystery. Both of the men infected in 1980 in western Kenya had traveled extensively, including making a visit to a cave, in that region. The cave was investigated by placing sentinels animals inside to see if they would become infected, and by taking samples from numerous animals and arthropods trapped during the investigation. The investigation yielded no virus: The sentinel animals remained healthy and no virus isolations from the samples obtained have been reported.

Just how the animal host first transmits Marburg virus to humans is unknown. However, as with some other viruses which cause viral hemorrhagic fever, humans who become ill with Marburg hemorrhagic fever may spread the virus to other people. This may happen in several ways. Persons handling infected monkeys who come into direct contact with them or their fluids or cell cultures, have become infected. Spread of the virus between humans has occurred in a setting of close contact, often in a hospital. Droplets of body fluids, or direct contact with persons, equipment, or other objects contaminated with infectious blood or tissues are all highly suspect as sources of disease.