Guinea’s health ministry has said that the outbreak of Marburg disease, announced at the beginning of August, is now over.
The country confirmed West Africa’s first case of Marburg, a highly infectious disease in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola, almost six weeks ago.
At the time, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the virus needed to be “stopped in its tracks”.
But no additional case has been recorded, according to a statement signed by Dr Sékou Condé from the health ministry.
However, the authorities are still investigating how the man was infected.
Marburg virus disease is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads between humans through the transmission of bodily fluids.
Cases are extremely rare with the last major outbreak in Angola in 2005.
It is a severe, often fatal illness with symptoms including headache, fever, muscle pains, vomiting blood and bleeding.
No treatment yet exists for Marburg but doctors say drinking plenty of water and treating specific symptoms improves a patient’s chances of survival.
Comments are closed.