Response to Imported Case of Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever, the Netherlands

Abstract

Adventure tourism may bring this disease to Western countries.

Chiropteran and Filoviruses in Africa: Unveiling an ancient history

“…As for Ebolavirus epidemics, Marburgvirus outbreaks in Africa were also well mapped and documented (Bausch et al, 2006;Feldmann, 2006;Brauburger et al, 2012;Rougeron et al, 2015). Imported human cases of Marburg virus infection from Uganda have been also reported in the USA (Timen et al, 2009) and in Netherlands (Fujita et al, 2010). Practically, all MARV emergences have been related to bat shelters (caves, gold-minning areas) and contact with infected monkeys (Cercopithecidae).…”

“…The first documented primary infections of natural MVD outbreaks in Africa have been linked to human visiting caves inhabited by bats: gold mining in Kitaka Cave in the Kamwenge District, Uganda (Adjemian et al, 2011); visit of python Cave in Maramagambo Forest Uganda (Fujita et al, 2010;Timen et al, 2009). These findings provided the first clues that bats might play an important role in the transmission cycle of MVD (Monath, 1999;Peterson et al, 2004;Bausch et al, 2003), and evidence of MARV circulation in bats was only been documented when Towner et al (2007) first detected MARV nucleic acids and antibodies from the common Egyptian fruit bat, Rousettus aegyptiacus in 2002 and 2005 in Gabon, without any virus islation.…”

The AIRSAN Project - Efficient, coherent EU level response to public health threats in air transport

“…One was an event where a Marburg patient travelled on a plane to the Netherlands in 2008 (34). No transmission occurred in this event.…”

“…The reservoir of Marburg is not known, nonhuman primates and bats are recognised sources of infection (34,35,40). Human-to-human transmission route is through direct contact with blood or other infected body fluids.…”

Bats: carriers of zoonotic viral and emerging infectious diseases

“…Some reports suggest that human may get infection of Marburg virus by visiting in caves in Africa. The most probable route of transmission in this condition might be by aerosol transmission (Timen et al, 2009).…”