About Marburg

Overview

Marburg is a rare, severe viral hemorrhagic fever which affects both people and other primates, like apes and monkeys. Caused by infection with orthomarburgviruses, Marburg virus or Ravn virus, the disease can lead to serious illness or death. Symptoms can appear suddenly and may include fever, rash, and severe bleeding.

Orthomarburgviruses are naturally found in the Egyptian rousette bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) and can spread from bats to people. Marburg virus is most commonly found in sub-Saharan Africa.

Marburg virus disease is named for the German city where scientists became ill with the disease's first known cases in 1967, while handling monkeys imported from Africa.

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Symptoms

Initial Marburg symptoms include:

• Fever
• Chills
• Headache
• Muscle aches
• Rash with both flat and raised bumps, often on the torso
• Chest pain
• Sore throat
• Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea

As the disease advances, symptoms can become more severe, including liver failure, delirium, shock, bleeding (hemorrhaging), and multi-organ dysfunction.

How long it takes for signs to show

People with Marburg usually start getting sick 2-21 days after they were infected with the virus.

Risk factors

Those most at risk for Marburg include:

• People in contact with Egyptian rousette bats or their excretions
• People caring for individuals sick with the disease without proper protective equipment
• People in contact with infected non-human primates

How it spreads

The Marburg virus is spread from infected Egyptian rousette bats to people. The virus is found in the saliva, urine, and feces of infected bats. Once the disease has "spilled over" from wildlife to people, those who are sick can spread the disease to other people.

Someone can become infected with the Marburg virus if they have contact (such as through broken skin or mucous membranes in the eyes, nose, or mouth) with:

• Body fluids of a person who is sick with or died from Marburg
• Objects contaminated with their fluids like clothes, bedding, needles and equipment
• Semen from a man who has recovered from infection with Marburg

Prevention

To prevent Marburg

• Avoid contact with blood and body fluids of people who are sick.
• Avoid contact with semen from a person who recovered from Marburg until testing shows that the virus is gone from their semen.
• Do not handle items that may have come in contact with an infected person's body fluids.
• Avoid contact with Egyptian rousette bats and non-human primates if in areas where Marburg is found.

Diagnosis

The following tests can be used for patients who had a possible exposure to an orthomarburgvirus and begin to show signs and symptoms of Marburg :

• Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
• IgM-capture ELISA
• Antigen-capture ELISA testing
• Virus isolation in high-containment laboratories

Treatment and recovery

Currently, there are no licensed treatments for Marburg. Treatment is limited to supportive care. This includes rest, hydration, managing oxygen status and blood pressure, and treatment of secondary infections.

Expected outcomes

Marburg virus causes a serious, deadly disease. Between 20-90 percent of people with the disease will die.

What CDC is doing

To combat Marburg, CDC:

• Responds to Marburg outbreaks around the globe.
• Provides infection prevention and control guidance.
• Offers confirmatory diagnostic testing.
• Conducts ongoing research to better understand the disease.