Viral hemorrhagic fever is a group of illnesses caused by four families of viruses, including Ebola, Marburg, Lassa fever, and Yellow fever viruses. Currently 99 people in Uganda are quarantined, because they have the Marburg hemorrhagic virus. A person got diagnosed with Marburg hemorrhagic fever and after three days of his death 99 people were isolated. Surveillance officers are closely monitoring all the people who came into contact with victim. This 30 year old man, who was a health worker died on September 28 of Marburg. He was a radiographer in a hospital in the capital of Kampala and a worked at a district health center where officials say he came in contact with colleagues. At least 11 people who may have came in contact with the health care worker have tested negative to this virus. Although some have developed symptoms similar to the Marburg hemorrhagic virus. This virus can cause symptoms very similar to Ebola, which begins with a fever and signs of weakness often leading to bleeding internally and externally. Marburg does have a shorter incubation period of 14 days than Ebola which is 21 days. The current out break of Ebola has killed more than 3,400 people in western African countries. Uganda has been hit by viruses like Ebola and Marburg in the past, but they have contained these outbreaks fairly quickly. According to CNN News the death rates from this disease is about 80%, but the most recent outbreak in Uganda back in 2012 killed only 4 of the 15 people.
It’s pretty scary to think about all the diseases in the world and know that diseases like Marburg and Ebola can kill you easier than we think. Obviously we can’t just get rid of these types of diseases in our world completely, but what can we do to try and prevent these things from happening if we choose to go to another country? Well the CDC recommends staying away from Liberia, Guinea, Sierra, and Leone, because of these outbreaks. If you choose to travel outside of the United States to a country with outbreaks of these types of viruses, make sure you are aware and are screened before coming back to the United States to make sure these don’t occur here.
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