United States: A serious warning has been issued about the spread of the Marburg virus, also called the “Bleeding Eye” virus, which has now affected 17 countries. Marburg has killed 15 people in Rwanda, and hundreds more have been infected. Travelers are being warned to be extra careful to avoid the virus. One of the symptoms of Marburg is bleeding from the eyes, which is how it got its nickname.
” Bleeding Eye’ virus arouses global concern Believed to have a forty-fifty percent fatality rate, the ‘bleeding eye’ virus might spread to other African countries that are still reeling from the impact of other viruses and their respective outbreaks.
Mpox clade 1 has been further identified in Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Uganda, and Kenya. This year alone, the UK had five known incidents of the more severe form of the Mpox virus, which was previously only endemic in five central African countries.
As reported by The Economic Times, the more recent one was just brought from Uganda and was made today in Leeds. The first was back from Africa on October 21 while the other four all resided in the same residence in London.
Mpox highly transmissible when household contacts “Mpox is highly transmissible through close contact in households, and it is, therefore, expected to spread further in the same households,” said Professor Susan Hopkins, the head of medical, communications at the UK Health Security Agency.
Although it has stated that “the overall risk to the UK population remains low”, it has led the travel health pro, an information website maintained by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has called on global travelers to be cautious. Despite the fact the risk is low, Travel Health Pro have advised people travelling to and from the country to exercise more caution.
Since the UK does not have pre-travel mpox vaccine yet, it urged those who planned to travel to seek advice from a healthcare provider to assess if one is eligible to travel. ” Pregnant and immunocompromised individuals are known to be at higher risk of severe infection,” it said.