Yesterday Rwanda reported one new Marburg virus case — a known contact of an earlier case, but officials said they were cautiously optimistic the outbreak of the deadly filovirus was dwindling.
“It’s not time to declare victory, but we are headed in that direction,” said Yvan Butera, MD, PhD, Rwanda’s minister of state, standing in for the country’s health minister during an Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) briefing today.
It’s not time to declare victory, but we are headed in that direction,
The outbreak total now stands at 66 cases, including 15 deaths. In an update today, Rwanda’s health ministry noted no new cases or deaths and that two patients remain in treatment. In the past 2 weeks, only four cases have been reported, including one health worker and three case contacts under monitoring. Of the three case contacts, one was linked to the index case location.
Officials at the briefing said they were still trying to determine when the health worker was exposed, as the worker had been vaccinated against the virus. Nearly all cases in this outbreak have been in healthcare workers.
More vaccines on the way
In related news, the Sabin Vaccine Institute announced on X it was sending 1,000 more doses of the experimental Marburg vaccine was being send to Rwanda after the initial 1,700 vaccines were sent in September.
The Institute said 1,600 doses have already been used in at-risk populations, including healthcare workers.
“The updated protocol will assess safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy, and focuses on high-risk individuals. Per the new protocol, half the participants will receive the investigational vaccine immediately and the other half will receive their dose 21 days later – the incubation period of the disease,” the X post said.
In today’s briefing, Butera said the Rwandan health officials are investigating if some recent cases of the virus were being identified beyond the assumed 21-day incubation period.
