Tanzanian health authorities have declared the end of the country’s second Marburg virus disease (MVD) outbreak after 42 days passed without any new cases following the death of the last confirmed patient on January 28.
Minister of Health Jenista Mhagama stated that since no new cases had been reported as of March 11, the country had met the World Health Organization’s (WHO) criteria for officially declaring the outbreak over.
“Scientifically, we have met the criteria for declaring the end of the MVD outbreak. Thus, today, March 13, 2025, I hereby officially declare the end of the MVD outbreak in the country,” Mhagama announced in a statement.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan had first declared the outbreak on January 20. This was Tanzania’s second recorded MVD outbreak, following the 2023 outbreak that resulted in nine cases and six deaths.
Speaking at a joint news conference with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Hassan stated that laboratory tests conducted at the Kabaile Mobile Laboratory in the northwestern region of Kagera—later confirmed in Dar es Salaam—identified one person in Biharamulo District as infected with MVD.
Mhagama noted that since the outbreak was declared, the government, in collaboration with stakeholders and partners, had implemented stringent measures to contain and control the spread of the virus in the affected area, Xinhua news agency reported.
However, she cautioned that Tanzania remains at risk of other highly infectious diseases, including Ebola, which has been reported in neighboring countries, and mpox, with two recent cases confirmed in Tanzania and additional cases reported globally.
The WHO, in a statement, emphasized that building on lessons learned from the 2023 MVD outbreak, it had worked closely with Tanzanian health authorities to swiftly scale up key response measures, including disease surveillance. More than 1,000 frontline health workers were trained in contact tracing, clinical care, and public health risk communication.
“The dedication of frontline health workers, along with the efforts of national authorities and our partners, has paid off,” said Charles Sagoe-Moses, the WHO representative in Tanzania.
“While the outbreak has been declared over, we remain vigilant and ready to respond swiftly if any new cases are detected. We are also supporting ongoing efforts to provide psychosocial care to families affected by the outbreak,” he added.
According to the WHO, the Marburg virus is highly virulent and causes hemorrhagic fever. The agency noted that MVD belongs to the same family as the Ebola virus, with symptoms beginning abruptly.
Previous MVD outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda.
–IANS
