Ghana has confirmed the first cases of the deadly Marburg virus from two people in the southern Ashanti region.

The World Health Organization (WHO) in a press statement issued on July 14, confirmed the development.

According to the WHO, the first patient was a 26-year-old male who checked into a hospital on June 26, 2022, and died on the next day. The second patient was a 51 -year-old male who reported to the hospital on June 28 and died on the same day.

The patients had shown symptoms including diarrhoea, fever, nausea, and vomiting, WHO said, adding that more than 90 contacts are being monitored.

Only these two cases of the Marburg virus disease have been reported so far and both patients are dead. There are no active cases in Ghana at the moment, but 90 contacts of the two deceased patients are being monitored. This is the first outbreak of the disease in Ghana.

The WHO describes the Marburg virus disease as a “highly virulent” disease that causes viral haemorrhagic fever. The disease belongs to the same family as Ebola. Both diseases have a high case fatality rate (CFR).

In previous outbreaks of the Marburg virus disease, the CFR ranged from 24% to 88%. While in a 2005 outbreak in Angola, 329 out of 375 people who tested positive died.

Marburg is a highly infectious viral hemorrhagic fever in the same family as the better-known Ebola virus disease and has a fatality ratio of up to 88%, according to WHO. “Illness begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache, and malaise,” it stated.

The virus is transmitted to humans from fruit bats and can then be spread human to human through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people or surfaces and materials contaminated with these fluids, WHO explained.

Currently, there is no approved vaccine to prevent the disease. There are no drugs with proven efficacy in clinical trials to treat the disease.

But, according to the WHO, two monoclonal antibodies – those made in a lab, as against those naturally produced – are being tested.

Two drugs – Remdesivir and Favipiravir – which have been repurposed for the Ebola disease are also being used under the “compassionate use” clause to treat Marburg disease.

This clause is invoked for a drug to be used in treating a disease for which it has no prior approval. On “compassionate” grounds and in the absence of any other drug, it can be used by treating clinicians. Otherwise, supportive treatment to manage the symptoms of the disease is prescribed.