Rwandan health officials challenge US travel ban, say Marburg fever contained

The African CDC boss during a virtual meeting with Rwandan Health Minister, journalists, and other health officials, praised the measures put in place by the government, stating that there is nearly zero risk of Rwanda spreading the disease to another country.

“It’s almost zero risk. I say ’almost’ because we cannot say 100% for sure, but I can say that there is a 95% certainty that there is zero risk for Rwanda spreading the disease out of Rwanda. The mechanisms they have put in place to monitor contacts mean no contact can fly out of Rwanda. This is amazing because they are monitoring these contacts on a daily basis,” the Africa CDC boss stated.

The World health organization describes Marburg virus disease (MVD) as a severe, often fatal illness that affects humans with the average MVD case fatality rate recorded at 50%.

Currently, there is no approved vaccine or treatment available for Marburg and in past outbreaks, case fatality rates have varied from 24% to 88%.

About 700 doses of an investigational vaccine from the US-based Sabin Vaccine Institute has been shipped to Rwanda as part of open-label clinical trial using a ring vaccination strategy.

This is specifically intended for health workers, emergency responders, and those who have come in contact with confirmed cases.

A fruit bat of the Pteropodidae family, known as Rousettus aegyptiacus is considered the natural host of Marburg virus. The fruit bat transmits the virus to people and it spreads among humans through human-to-human transmission.

Marburg was first reported in Rwanda on September 27, 2024 and as at October 8, 2024, just 11 days later, Rwanda recorded 56 illnesses and 12 deaths from the outbreak.

Most affected are individuals working in the health sector and particularly those who work in intensive care units.

The US department also raised the travel advisory to Rwanda to level three meaning Americans “should reconsider travel to Rwanda.”

Responding, Kaseya expressed dissatisfaction with the development, adding that the action was taken without the input of the Africa CDC team or Rwandan officials.

He argued that it was wrong to penalize Rwanda with travel advisories despite its transparency during the duration of the outbreak while adding that the Ebola-like Marburg fever outbreak in Rwanda is under control, making travel bans to the East African nation unnecessary.

According to the Rwandan health minister, Sabin Nsanzimana, the case-fatality rate (CFR) is currently at 22%, which is a huge drop when compared to previous outbreaks, especially for a disease with a CFR that can be as high as 80%.