About the virus

• Marburg virus disease (MVD), formerly known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.
• Marburg virus was first recognized in 1967, when outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever occurred simultaneously in laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany and in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia).

Transmission

• Rousettus aegyptiacus, a fruit bat of the Pteropodidae family, is considered the natural host of Marburg virus. 
• The Marburg virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids

Symptoms

• The incubation period (interval from infection to onset of symptoms) varies from 2 to 21 days.
• MVD begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. Muscle aches and pains are a common feature.

Treatment

• Early intensive supportive care including rehydration and treatment of specific symptoms, can improve survival.
• Currently there are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved for MVD.