Authorities give the all-clear No Marburg virus in Hamburg after all
The suspicion of the dangerous Marburg virus in two people in Hamburg has not been confirmed. Tests gave a negative result.
03.10.2024, 11:50
03.10.2024, 11:59
SDA
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- The suspected Marburg virus in two people in Hamburg has not been confirmed; both tested negative.
- A medical student who had contact with infected people in Rwanda remains under observation and in isolation until the end of the incubation period.
- The Marburg virus is not airborne and there was no risk of infection for fellow travelers on the return journey.
The suspected Marburg virus in two people in Hamburg (Germany) has not been confirmed. The two people brought to the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf on Wednesday tested negative for the virus, according to the social authorities.
One of the two people had recently worked in a hospital in Rwanda where people infected with the virus were also treated.
According to the authorities, the medical student who had contact with an infected person will continue to be monitored until the end of the incubation period of up to 21 days. For the next few days, it is planned that he will remain in isolation in the special ward of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), followed by isolation at home under the supervision of the responsible health authority.
The man's companion will also be observed at the UKE over the weekend. During the return journey from Rwanda via Frankfurt to Hamburg, there was no danger to fellow passengers on the train or plane at any time.
Marburg virus cannot be transmitted by air
Unlike coronaviruses or influenza viruses, the Marburg virus is not airborne. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), people can only become infected if they have close contact with seriously ill people or deceased persons or their bodily fluids. There is no risk in normal encounters with people in public and private spaces. "Even on airplanes, transmission of Marburg or Ebola viruses has never been documented."
The Marburg virus can cause high fever and symptoms such as muscle pain, abdominal cramps, diarrhea and bloody vomiting. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 25 to 90 percent of those infected have died in previous outbreaks in Africa.
No case in Switzerland to date
The pathogen bears the name of the German city of Marburg because laboratory employees there were infected with the previously unknown virus in experimental monkeys in 1967. According to the US health authority CDC, there has not been a case of the disease in Germany since 1967.
According to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), no case has been registered in Switzerland to date. The risk groups include nursing and laboratory staff in particular, as well as relatives who care for people suffering from Marburg fever. According to the FOPH, employees of organizations such as the International Red Cross (ICRC) or Doctors Without Borders, who work in the epidemic areas, also belong to the risk groups.
Symptoms after a stay in Rwanda
According to the authorities, the two people treated in Hamburg had flown from Rwanda to Frankfurt on Wednesday night and then taken a train to the Hanseatic city. During the journey, the student contacted doctors because he was worried that he had contracted a tropical disease in Rwanda.
After arriving in Hamburg on an ICE train, the fire department took the two to the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf for examination and isolation, according to the Hamburg social welfare authorities. The man had flu-like symptoms and was slightly nauseous, it said. He did not have a fever - a main symptom of Marburg fever.
