What is marburg virus?

The recent outbreak of another disease called ‘Marburg Virus’ was announced in Ghana. Kindly let me know about this disease.

Sani (by WhatsApp)

Marburg virus is the same family as Ebola Virus. These viruses both cause haemorrhagic fever. Marburg can have an incubation period of anywhere from two to 21 days, but once it starts, the symptoms ramp up quickly. The virus causes a high fever, pain, and headaches. By day three, gastrointestinal symptoms start, and diarrhoea may last for a week. Haemorrhaging may start on day seven, and patients might start bleeding from multiple places. These cases are usually fatal. There are no vaccines or treatments for the virus itself, but symptoms can sometimes be treated, and fatalities have been prevented this way. Typically, people only get sick after they spend time in caves or mines where Rousettus bat colonies live. The bats naturally harbor the virus. People infected with Marburg can spread the disease to others when a healthy person comes into direct contact, such as through a cut on the skin, with body fluids like blood or saliva from an infected person, or when there is direct contact with surfaces that have been contaminated by infected fluids.