Rwandan health authorities will begin research into a vaccine against Marburg hemorrhagic fever as the East African country tries to contain the spread of an outbreak that has killed 12 people.
Rwanda has received 700 doses of the investigational vaccine from the U.S.-based Sabin Vaccine Institute and plans to provide the vaccine to health workers, first responders and individuals who have come into contact with confirmed cases. There is no approved vaccine or treatment for Marburg disease.
The Rwandan government announced that 46 people have been confirmed to have the virus, 29 of whom are in isolation.
The case fatality rate in Marburg is as high as 88%.
Symptoms in Marburg include high fever, severe headache, and fatigue within seven days of infection, followed by severe nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
It is transmitted to humans by fruit bats and spread by contact with the body fluids of an infected person.
Neighboring Uganda has experienced several outbreaks of infectious diseases in the past.
Rwanda’s Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana said vaccinations began on Sunday.
“We believe that the vaccine gives us a powerful tool to stop the spread of this virus,” Nsanzimana told a news conference in the capital, Kigali, on Sunday.
