Tanzania has officially dismissed a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report claiming a suspected new outbreak of the Marburg virus in the northwestern Kagera region.
On Tuesday, the WHO reported nine suspected cases of the highly infectious disease, including eight fatalities, raising alarms about a potential resurgence of the virus.
In a statement, Health Minister Jenista Mhagama reassured the public and international organizations that laboratory tests revealed all samples tested negative for the Marburg virus.
She emphasized that the country has bolstered its surveillance systems and disease monitoring to prevent any potential outbreak. “We would like to assure the international organizations, including WHO, that we shall always keep them up to date with ongoing developments,” Mhagama stated.
Tanzania faced its first Marburg outbreak in March 2023, which lasted nearly two months and resulted in six deaths. The virus, closely related to Ebola, presents severe symptoms, including high fever, muscle aches, diarrhea, and in extreme cases, death due to significant blood loss.
Despite the government’s reassurances, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned that there could be “further cases in the coming days as disease surveillance improves.”
The organization has deployed rapid response teams to Kagera to identify and monitor any suspected cases, noting that the risk of the virus spreading in the region remains “high” due to Kagera’s status as a transit hub with significant cross-border movement.
Currently, there are no travel or trade restrictions recommended for Tanzania, and the WHO has assessed the global risk from this suspected outbreak as “low.”
