Rwandan authorities have limited the scale of funerals for victims of the Marburg virus in an effort to prevent an outbreak of the highly contagious disease.
Eight people have died in Rwanda’s first outbreak of the virus, which was confirmed by the country’s Ministry of Health on Friday.
Marburg, with a mortality rate of up to 88%, belongs to the same virus family as Ebola. It spread to humans from fruit bats and then through contact with the body fluids of infected people.
In new guidelines aimed at preventing the spread of Marburg, the Ministry of Health said no more than 50 people could attend the funeral of a person who died of the disease.
“Normal business and other activities” can resume in the East African country, the advisory published on Sunday evening said.
However, the agency also urged the public to avoid close contact with “symptomatic individuals.” The ministry lists symptoms as fever, headache, muscle pain, vomiting and diarrhea.
This virus can cause death due to excessive blood loss.
Instructions from the Ministry of Health say patients at the hospital will not be allowed to visit for the next 14 days.
Patients will also only be allowed to have one caregiver at a time, the guidance said.
In many developing countries, patients’ relatives perform basic care tasks – such as bathing and feeding – that are typically performed by nurses in other countries.
On Saturday, when the official death toll reached six, Rwanda’s Health Minister said most of the victims were medical staff in hospital intensive care units.
Dr Nahid Bhadelia, director of Boston University’s Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, told the BBC’s Newsday program that containing the spread of the virus could be challenging because most cases are reported. The reports were all in the populous capital Kigali, while previous outbreaks have often occurred in remote rural areas where they were more manageable.
However, she added that there is hope because Rwanda has “a much better infrastructure and history of public health coordination than many other countries”.
Rwanda says it is stepping up contact tracing, surveillance and testing to help stop the spread.
The country’s health minister said on Sunday that officials were monitoring about 300 people who had come into contact with those affected by the Marburg virus.
Authorities have urged people to practice good hygiene, such as washing their hands regularly.
This is the first time Marburg has been confirmed in Rwanda.
Neighboring Tanzania reported an outbreak in 2023, while three people died in Uganda in 2017.
