Which of the following statements about the Marburg virus disease (MVD) is correct?

I. MVD was first discovered in Tanzania.

II. MVD is caused by a different virus family than Ebola.

III. The Kagera region in Tanzania has reported the first outbreak of MVD in the country.

Solution

Tanzania has announced its first outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus disease (MVD), in the country’s north-west Kagera region. MVD was first discovered in 1967 in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany and Belgrade, Serbia. It is from the same “virus family” as Ebola and causes a severe hemorrhagic fever, while fatality rates have varied from 24% to 88%. There have been several outbreaks since its discovery, with the worst being Angola in 2004-2005, where there were 252 cases and 227 deaths. About Tanzania Capital: Dodoma                                Currency: Tanzanian shilling