Thread by @HelenBranswell

1. @WHO put out a meaty release today on the confirmation of Guinea's first detected #Marburg case. A thread.
The first known case, described in the local media as a 46 yo father of five, developed symptoms on July 25. No word yet on the source of his infection.

2. This #Marburg case occurred at Gueckédou, which is near where the 2014-16 #Ebola outbreak is thought to have started. Guinea's health system is underfunded, which helped Ebola take off there. But Gueckédou now has a lab to test for viral hemorrhagic fevers. Beneficial legacy.

3. The man sought medical care but his illness wasn't diagnosed as #Marburg. He was tested for malaria — a common occurrence when health workers don't know a viral hemorrhagic fever is circulating. After his Aug. 2 death, Marburg was diagnosed pretty quickly.

4. There was recently a small flare up of #Ebola cases linked to the 2014-16 outbreak at Gueckédou. Consequently work was being done in the area to improve surveillance for VHFs. The teams working on that project were redeployed to work on the #Marburg case. Helpful.

5. So far, 4 people have been designated as high-risk contacts of the #Marburg case — 3 family members & a health care worker. All are being monitored and are currently asymptomatic.
There were media reports suggesting the man's wife had fled. No mention of that from @WHO.

6. Though there are only 4 high-risk contacts at the moment, many other contacts have been identified and are being monitored.

7. There are no vaccines for #Marburg & no proven therapies either. Marburg outbreaks haven't been as frequent or as big as #Ebola outbreaks, & so there's been even less work on/opportunity to test vaccines & therapies.

8. Finally, to put this in context: The people who were around the man who died are at risk. There's a pretty high risk for that part of Guinea & neighbors Sierra Leone & Liberia. But the global risk is low. If you aren't in that corner of West Africa your greater risk is #Covid.