Nairobi, 24 Feb. The United States has offered its assistance to Equatorial Guinea to combat the outbreak of the Marburg virus disease, similar to Ebola, declared on the 13th in the African country, the Vice President of Equatorial Guinea reported today, Teodoro Nguema Obiang.
In his account on the social network Twitter, the Vice President indicated that his father and President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang, had a “telephone conversation” with the American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on Thursday.
During this dialogue, “the United States expressed its willingness to support Equatorial Guinea with a group of specialists in the fight against the Marburg virus in our country”, added Nguema Obiang, known as “Teodorín “.
In a statement, State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed the call.
“Secretary Blinken called on President Obiang to offer his support and collaboration as Equatorial Guinea responds to an outbreak of Marburg virus disease. The Secretary and the President agreed that cooperation is essential for a successful response to this epidemic,” Price explained. .
The outbreak, the first of the Marburg virus to break out in the former Spanish colony, was detected in the province of Kié-Ntem, in the west of the mainland of the country and on the border with Cameroon and Gabon. , after the Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the deaths of at least nine people from the disease.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) of the African Union (AU) assured on the 16th that the epidemic should not “sow panic” and stressed that experts are working to contain the epidemic.
Marburg is a highly contagious viral hemorrhagic fever, in the same family as the more well-known Ebola virus disease.
In the past, outbreaks and sporadic cases of this disease have been detected in other African countries, such as Ghana, Guinea-Conakri, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, South Africa and Uganda.
Marburg virus disease is as deadly as Ebola and is estimated to have killed more than 3,500 people in Africa.
Like Ebola, this virus causes sudden bleeding and can lead to death within days, with an incubation period of 2 to 21 days and a mortality rate of up to 88%.
Fruit bats are the natural hosts of this virus which, when transmitted to humans, can be transmitted by direct contact with fluids such as blood, saliva, vomit or urine.
The disease, for which there is no vaccine or specific treatment, was detected in 1967 in the German city of Marburg -hence its name- by laboratory technicians who became infected while investigating monkeys. brought from Uganda. EFE
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