Tanzania's Five Latest Deaths Are Confirmed As... Marburg's -- Not Ebola.

As we mentioned might be the case, over the weekend -- and as we earlier guessed in the border crossing cases from Uganda to Guinea and Cameroon -- this is a Marburg's, not Ebola outbreak. So (as a tiny silver lining) there may be an opportunity to advance the vaccine candidates, specifically for Marburg here. We shall see. Still very disconcerting news.

Here are the details from the Seattle Times, this afternoon:

. . .Tanzania’s health ministry on Tuesday confirmed that five people have died and three others are being treated for the Ebola-like Marburg disease.

Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu said the cases were identified in the western region of Kagera and the government had managed to control its spread to other regions.

Like Ebola, the Marburg virus originates in bats and spreads between people via close contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, or surfaces, like contaminated bed sheets. Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of people.

Marburg outbreaks and individual cases have in the past been recorded in Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Ghana, according to the World Health Organization. . . .

This will now be another drain on the funding at WHO -- and likely mean that more logistical and financial support will be needed, from the wealthier nations. Onward, resolutely.

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