Rwanda to use Marburg vaccine in trial as death toll rises to 12

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Rwandan health authorities will begin a vaccine trial against Marburg hemorrhagic feverofficials said Sunday as the East African country tries to stop the spread of an outbreak that has killed 12 people.

Rwanda, which received 700 doses of an investigational vaccine from the U.S. Sabin Vaccine Institute on Saturday, will target health workers and emergency responders as well as people who have had contact with confirmed cases, according to the Health Ministry.

Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana told reporters on Sunday that the Rwanda Biomedical Center had inspected the vaccine shipment.

There is no approved vaccine or treatment for Marburg.

Like Ebola, the Marburg virus is believed to have originated in flying foxes and spread between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected people or with surfaces such as contaminated bed sheets. Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of those affected.

In a statement, the Sabin Vaccine Institute said it had “entered into a clinical trial agreement with the Rwanda Biomedical Centre, the sponsor of the study, to provide investigational doses for the study.”

According to the Rwandan government, there were 46 confirmed cases, 29 of which were isolated. Health authorities have identified at least 400 people who have come into contact with confirmed cases of the virus.

Rwanda declared an outbreak in Marburg on September 27 and reported six deaths a day later. The first cases were found in patients in health facilities, authorities said at the time. There is still no confirmation about the source of the outbreak.

Symptoms include fever, muscle pain, diarrhea, vomiting and, in some cases, death from extreme blood loss.

In Rwanda, most of the sick people are health workers in six of the country’s 30 districts. According to the World Health Organization, some patients live in districts bordering Congo, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania.

Rwandans have been urged to avoid physical contact to curb the spread. The strict measures include the suspension of school and hospital visits and a limit on the number of people who can attend funerals for Marburg victims. Vigils at home are not permitted if a death is related to Marburg.

The US Embassy in Kigali has asked its employees to work remotely and avoid visits to offices.

There have been outbreaks and isolated cases in Marburg in the past taken in TanzaniaEquatorial Guinea, Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Ghana, according to the WHO.

The virus was first identified in 1967 after causing simultaneous outbreaks of disease in laboratories in Marburg, Germany, and Belgrade, Serbia. Seven people died after being exposed to the virus while conducting research on monkeys.