On October 3, 2024, Hamburg Central Station in northern Germany cordoned off a passenger station platform. This was done because it was suspected that a passenger on a high-speed train may have been infected with a dangerous virus. The two have been taken to a specialist clinic, both of whom show flu-like symptoms while traveling. Authorities got worried after finding that they had recently come from Rwanda, which was battling a new outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus. Although the details of their illness are still unclear, the incident brought renewed focus to the Marburg virus and the ongoing crisis in Rwanda.
What is the Marburg virus?
The Marburg virus is a highly infectious and deadly pathogen that is in the same family as Ebola. Like its cousin of infamy, Marburg, it causes severe hemorrhagic fever. Symptoms often begin with an abrupt onset of high fever, intense headaches, and gastrointestinal upset, including vomiting and diarrhea. As the illness worsens, patients often develop uncontrollable bleeding—both inside and outside the body. According to WHO, the virus has an average fatality rate of 50%. However, in past epidemics, mortality rates have reached as high as 88%.
What may be alarming about the Marburg virus is how quickly it spreads after an outbreak. Infected people are highly contagious by transferring the virus through bodily fluids, touching contaminated surfaces, and even handling infected products such as medical equipment or bedding. Given the speed at which it spreads and its deadliness, the virus requires strict control and handling to ensure that huge outbreaks do not materialize.
Origin of the Marburg Virus
The German town of Marburg and Belgrade, Serbia first identified the Marburg virus. Exposure occurred in both towns after a laboratory worker contracted the virus while working with African green monkeys from Uganda. The imported monkeys were conducting polio vaccine tests and harbored the virus, which they transmitted to humans. The first identification of the Marburg virus resulted from its discovery, which has led to many outbreaks in several African countries, including Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda.
Regarding the ongoing Marburg outbreak in Rwanda,
Rwanda is experiencing its first ever outbreak of the Marburg virus. Since the first case, the country has documented 36 cases and 11 deaths, according to a recent report by the WHO. The outbreak has raised health alarms in the region since it risked spreading further inside Rwanda and across the broader African region—very high inside Rwanda and high across the broader African region, the WHO said. Currently, the global level is low, but we are closely monitoring it.
The Marburg virus outbreak in Rwanda forms part of a larger trend of emerging infectious diseases in Africa, where outbreaks of viruses such as Ebola and Marburg are recurrent. These persist because of poor healthcare infrastructure, limited access to medical care, and especially the challenge of containing highly contagious diseases in rural areas. In Rwanda, the spread of the virus was controlled by segregating suspected cases, providing primary medical care in selected facilities, and intensifying public health measures to counter the virus.
Connection to the Hamburg incident
There was panic at Hamburg Central Station when a man and his girlfriend, appearing to be suffering from flu-like symptoms, arrived from Rwanda via Frankfurt. According to media reports, the man is a medical student who had been treating a patient who later contracted an unidentified infectious disease—an illness that authorities instantly isolated the platform to question the man for regarding being a threat.
The couple was immediately transferred to a medically specialized clinic for additional assessment, and good fortune was that the male did not display one of the most specific symptoms of infection with the Marburg virus—high fever. Anyway, the prompt response underscores the seriousness with which authorities treat suspected cases of infectious diseases, considering the ongoing outbreak in Rwanda. It underscores the ease with which international travel can transfer viruses like Marburg across borders, underscoring the need for constant vigilance in public health.
How is the Marburg virus managed and contained?
International health organizations, national governments, and local authorities should contain Marburg virus outbreaks promptly. The best practices for dealing with the outbreak are early detection, isolation of infected persons, and medical care. The WHO emphasizes early clinical intervention coupled with rehydration to improve chances of survival. However, antiviral treatment and vaccines against Marburg virus exist only in the realm of research.
Medical practitioners wear personal protective equipment, known as PPE, to minimize their possible exposure to the virus, and hospitals and clinics have always adhered to strict infection control measures. Nurses and doctors, who are in direct contact with infected patients, may be at the greatest risk of contracting the virus. During the breakout, the affected areas are sometimes quarantined in an attempt to reduce the virus’s spread.
Global Concerns and Interests
The world at large has a strong interest in preventing future outbreaks of diseases like the Marburg virus. Even though the chances of a global outbreak remain relatively low, past examples do well to show that infectious diseases can easily cut across international borders. The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the necessity for swift and collective international action in response to infectious disease outbreaks. Applying some of the COVID-19 crisis’s lessons appropriately to the Marburg virus response would be a logical step.
The WHO and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been working in association with health authorities in Rwanda to monitor the situation with increasing stocks of medical supplies, funding, and personnel. Strengthened and increased border controls have been improved by neighbouring countries, and the neighbouring areas are under close surveillance for the potential cases of Marburg.
What’s Ahead
While Rwanda fights to control its very first-ever outbreak of Marburg, international health experts are already exploring ways to stop the further spread of this disease. In fact, the Hamburg Central Station accident reminds us that vigilance is essential in our globalised world where infectious diseases can traverse continents so easily. In pandemic times, to be sure, the re-introduction of viruses from distant places poses an ongoing threat, considering that the origin may be elsewhere, as with Marburg.
There exists an enormous research need for vaccines and treatments for Marburg virus infections. While the development and success of vaccines for other hemorrhagic fevers, such as Ebola, are more extensive, Marburg has been one of the biggest challenges. To prevent future outbreaks and ensure prompt management of those that do occur, we must continue to invest in upgrading global health infrastructure, research, and international cooperation.
Conclusion
While Ebola receives much media attention and is less well-known, the high case mortality and speed of transmission make it a serious threat. The ongoing outbreak in Rwanda reminds the world, once again, how perpetual the threat of infectious diseases can be, particularly in under-resourced health settings. While the Hamburg case remains contained, it really highlights the importance of heightened global awareness and preparedness in preventing virulent viruses from spreading throughout the world. As the world watches the events unfold in Rwanda, so much remains to be done to contain the spread of the virus and prevent a similar event from happening again.
