The notification from Uganda to the WHO was of a single case. But\u00a0a well-placed source \u2014 who answered questions from STAT on the proviso that their name and place of work would not be identified \u2014 said that Uganda had actually detected two cases of Marburg as of Monday. The individual said it appeared that at this point, the outbreak is localized.<\/p>\n
The source said the WHO\u2019s outreach to other countries to inform them of the information it was receiving about the outbreak also cited two confirmed cases. That notice went out through a password-secure disease news-sharing network run through the International Health Regulations, a treaty to which most countries \u2014 including the United States \u2014 are signatories.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe continue to request further information, and once this is received from Ugandan health authorities, we will continue to update Member States, and the wider public,\u201d the WHO said in a statement given to STAT.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\tClinical trial set to test two drugs for fast-growing Ebola outbreak<\/a><\/p>\n STAT has reached out to Uganda\u2019s health ministry for comment but has not yet received a reply.<\/p>\n Nahid Bhadelia, director of Boston University\u2019s Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases, suggested the U.S. embassy\u2019s alert may have been an attempt to force the country to publicly acknowledge something that has been likely known for some days.<\/p>\n \u201cThe embassy releasing this does make me feel like this is something that is a bit more confirmed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Marburg is caused by a filovirus, the broad family to which Ebolaviruses belong. The viruses trigger the same type of disease and are spread via the same methods \u2014 contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, or the preparation of an infected corpse for traditional burials.<\/p>\n Of the 20 or so recorded Marburg outbreaks<\/a> to have been confirmed since the virus was identified in 1967, five occurred in Uganda, two were in tourists who were infected there but confirmed after returning home, and one involved lab workers infected by monkeys from Uganda.<\/p>\n There are currently no licensed vaccines to prevent Marburg infection, though several candidates are at various stages of being tested. And Marburg vaccine work is further advanced than efforts to test vaccines against Bundibugyo, the species of Ebola responsible for the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, that outbreak\u2019s epicenter. Several are in development, but the entities working on these vaccines don\u2019t currently have doses available to mount a clinical trial. Trials of these vaccines are months down the road<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Uganda is known to be highly effective in containing outbreaks of Ebola and Marburg. But it is likewise known to be hesitant to disclose much information during such outbreaks, possibly driven by the importance tourism plays in its economy.\u00a0The detection of a Marburg outbreak in Uganda comes at a time when the government there is trying to get countries \u2014 including the United States<\/a> \u2014 to roll back entry restrictions on Ugandan nationals or travelers who have been in Uganda within the previous 21 days, the incubation period for Ebola and Marburg.<\/p>\n