CNN
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Cameroonian authorities discovered two suspected cases of Marburg disease in Oramze, a commune on the border with Equatorial Guinea, on Monday, the region’s public health representative Robert Maturin Bijan said on Tuesday. .
Equatorial Guinea officially first occurrence on Monday, the Marburg virus, an Ebola-like disease.
neighboring Cameroon restricted movement After an unknown fatal hemorrhagic fever was reported in Equatorial Guinea last week, it moved along its borders to avoid contagion.
“On February 13, we had two suspected cases. These are two 16-year-old children, a boy and a girl, with no previous travel history to the affected areas of Equatorial Guinea,” said Cameroon. said at a conference in Yaoundé, the capital of
He added that 42 people who had contact with the two children have been identified and contact tracing is underway.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Tuesday that it is stepping up epidemiological surveillance in Equatorial Guinea.
The small country in central Africa has so far reported nine deaths and 16 suspected cases of Marburg, with symptoms such as fever, fatigue, bloody vomiting and diarrhea, according to WHO. can be
“Surveillance on the ground has been stepped up,” said George Ameh, WHO’s country representative for Equatorial Guinea.
“As you know, contact tracing is the cornerstone of the response. ”
Equatorial Guinea last week quarantined more than 200 people in Kie Ntem province, where the hemorrhagic fever was first detected, and restricted movement.
Marburg virus is a highly contagious disease with a fatality rate of up to 88%, according to WHO. There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat it.
“We are working on a 30-day response plan and need to be able to quantify the exact measures and the exact needs,” said Ameh.
He added that the country’s authorities had not reported any new suspected cases in the past 48 hours.
