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ADDS travel measures
Rwanda’s health minister said the country would begin vaccinating against the deadly Ebola-like Marburg virus on Sunday after receiving about 700 doses of the experimental vaccine.
Since the outbreak was announced in Rwanda on September 28, the death toll has risen to 12, most of them health workers.
A highly contagious hemorrhagic fever with a mortality rate of up to 88%, it is often accompanied by bleeding and organ failure.
Health Minister Nsanzimana Sabin told reporters: “The vaccine has been tested by the health authorities and the Bureau of Standards here in Rwanda.”
“Today, we will start vaccinating those at highest risk of contracting the disease, including doctors and others who have come into contact with patients in Marburg.”
It added that there are plans to order additional doses.
The experimental vaccine, currently in phase 2 trials, was provided by the US-based Sabin Vaccine Institute.
“The first shipment of approximately 700 doses of the vaccine will be used in clinical trials with frontline workers, including health care workers, who have been hardest hit by the deadly virus,” the institute said in a statement on Saturday. “
Trials are already underway in neighboring Uganda and Kenya, and they announced that no safety concerns have been reported so far.
Approximately 41 people in Rwanda have been confirmed to have been infected with the disease, the Ministry of Health has announced.
The Rwanda Development Board said on Sunday that travel measures were in place.
It said temperature checks, passenger questionnaires and hand sanitizing stations would be introduced at departure points, and urged travelers to monitor themselves for symptoms such as fever.
Marburg virus is transmitted from fruit bats to humans and is part of the so-called Filoviridae family, which also includes Ebola virus.
Currently, there is no officially approved vaccine or antiviral treatment, but potential treatments are being evaluated, including blood products, immunotherapy, and drug therapy.
str-er/giv
