The World Health Organization's African Regional Office has confirmed an outbreak of Marburg fever in Tanzania. Laboratory tests have identified the pathogen in one patient. The outbreak of symptoms of this haemorrhagic fever was reported in the Kagera region in the northwest of the country, bordering Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. The initial report included nine cases, eight of which were fatal (case fatality rate 89 per cent). Specialists and mobile laboratories have been deployed to the region.
As of January 20, 2025, the total number of suspected cases has reached 25. All patients have tested negative, they are under constant surveillance, and measures are being taken to localize the infection. WHO assesses the regional risk of infection as high and the global risk as low. In December 2024, an outbreak of Marburg fever in neighboring Rwanda with 66 confirmed cases and 15 deaths ended, which gave rise to the world's first trials of an experimental vaccine.