Marburg virus disease
Last reviewed 01/2018
Marburg virus disease is similar to Ebola virus - an RNA virus and a member of the Filoviridae.
The spread of this condition, as with Ebola virus has not yet been fully elucidated. It is known that person-to- person spread is possible from accidental inoculation with infected blood and tissues; it may be true that spread occurs also by sexual intercourse.
After an incubation period of two to twenty one days there is vomiting and diarrhoea. There is a characteristic morbilliform rash between the third and eighth days, and there may be an alteration in the mental state.
Treatment with serum from convalescent patients, which contain a high level of neutralising antibody, a method used in the treatment of Argentine haemorrhagic fever is as yet of unproven value.