The course of this disease indicates the possibility that it is an infectious disease,” said Tanzanian scientist Tumaini Nagu.
Health authorities in Tanzania, one of the poorest countries in the world, are investigating an outbreak of unidentified disease which killed at least five people in the northwest of the country. Urgent efforts are underway to identify the pathogen.
At least seven people in two villages in Bukoba district, which is part of Kagera region, fell ill with symptoms including fever, vomiting, bleeding in various parts of the body and kidney failure, the health ministry said. “The course of this disease indicates the possibility that it is a infectious pathologyDr. Tumaini Nagu said. An emergency response team has been sent to the affected area to deal with the outbreak.
As of yesterday, Friday 17 March, at least five people had died of the disease and the other two were still being treated at a local hospital. People with similar symptoms were asked to report them to a community health center. “Samples have been taken from patients and deceased to identify the source and confirm the type of disease,” Nagu said in a statement, in which he urged citizens not to panic and remain calm.
The symptoms described by the health ministry appear similar to viral haemorrhagic fever, triggered by several viruses, including Ebola and Marburg. Neighboring Uganda experienced an Ebola outbreak late last year, and Equatorial Guinea is still dealing with a small Marburg outbreak. Therefore, it is not excluded that the epidemic in Tanzania was caused by a variant of a virus already known to the scientific community.
