The CDC is sending people to Guinea and Tanzania to help with the spread of the Marburg virus.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns visitors to Guinea and Tanzania about getting the dangerous Marburg virus. The CDC is also sending people to Africa to help stop the sickness from spreading further.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that the Marburg virus is an illness that could spread quickly and kill a lot of people.
This week, the CDC said that its National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases will go to Guinea and Tanzania to help with the cases there.
This week, the CDC told people traveling to Guinea and Tanzania to stay away from sick people and health care facilities in the areas where the disease is spreading. They were also told to keep an eye out for signs for three weeks after leaving the area.
Equatorial Guinea reported the first case of the virus in February. Since then, the country has confirmed nine cases and suspected 20 more. According to WHO, all of these people have died.
About 1,800 miles away, on the other side of the continent, Tanzania is also reporting a spread of Marburg. So far, WHO has confirmed eight cases, five of which were fatal.
The virus is a rare and dangerous disease that can cause fever, chills, pain in the muscles, a rash, a sore throat, diarrhea, weakness, or bleeding or bruising that can’t be explained.
The CDC says that the Marburg virus can be spread by “blood or body fluids” from a person who has Marburg or who has died from it.
The virus can also be spread by coming into touch with contaminated items (like clothes, needles, and medical equipment) or animals, like bats.
In 2018, CDC experts led a project in the Python Cave of Queen Elizabeth National Park after tourists and people in a nearby town got sick with the virus.
The CDC says that health experts tracked where bats go at night by putting GPS devices on their backs. They did this to learn more about how the virus gets from bats to people.