Marburg Virus: Tanzania Issues Travel Advisory To Kagera Region

Tanzania has issued a travel advisory following the outbreak of Marburg Viral Disease (MVD) that has claimed five lives in the Kagera region so far.

On Tuesday, March 21, 2023, the Ministry of Health confirmed an outbreak of MVD in Bukoba's Lake Zone district, four days after reports of a "possibly contagious disease" emerged in the district, killing five people, including a health worker, who developed symptoms of fever, vomiting, bleeding from various body openings, and kidney failure.

Following the outbreak, the government resolved to implement and strengthen public health measures to limit the pandemic and further prevent local and international spread by the 2005 International Health Regulation.

The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, Minister Dr Seif Shekalaghe, issued Travel Advisory Number 12 of 2023, which begins with immediate effect to undertake effective measures connected to overseas travel.

Visitors to the impacted locations are advised to take the seven precautions outlined in the advice.

All leaving and domestic travellers from the Kagera region will be asked to complete an online Traveler's Surveillance Form. 

All people on the contact tracing list should be checked regularly and prevented from leaving their isolation areas or travelling.

All travellers' body temperatures will be taken at any point of entry (airport, ground crossing, or port). 

Persons with feverish conditions should be barred from entering or leaving the country until they have completed the monitoring period and have been cleared to travel by the Port Health Authority.

"All travellers will be provided with health information cards with a toll-free number, which is 199 and advised to self-monitor and report any signs and symptoms of MVD. 

"Those with signs and symptoms will be tested and treated at designated government health facilities,"

"While in the country, all international travellers should observe adherence to infection prevention and control measures such as hand hygiene, keep physical distance, and report any sign or symptom using the toll-free number," the advisory directed.

All Conveyance operators must follow infection prevention and control procedures, including hand cleanliness and the use of alcohol-based sanitiser.

All visitors should follow the country's port of entry, exit, and domestic screening procedures. 

This includes travellers and personnel adhering to preventive measures like hand hygiene, the use of alcohol-based sanitisers, and physical distance.

To assist the Tanzanian government in monitoring the outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) plans to deploy an emergency team to the Kagera region to conduct additional epidemiological investigations following an outbreak of Marburg, the country's first outbreak of the viral disease.

"We are working with the government to rapidly scale up control measures to halt the spread of the virus and end the outbreak as soon as possible," Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa said in a statement released on March 21, 2023.

Marburg virus disease is a rare and deadly disease that has, at times, caused outbreaks in several African countries. 

It is spread by contact with the blood or body fluids of a person infected with the Marburg virus. 

It is also circulated by contact with contaminated objects (such as clothing, bedding, needles, and medical equipment) or by contact with animals, such as bats and nonhuman primates, who are infected with the Marburg virus.