Marburg virus

Marburg virus disease (MVD) is the name for the human disease caused by any of the two marburgviruses Marburg virus (MARV) and Ravn virus (RAVV). MVD is a viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF), and is clinically indistinguishable from Ebola virus disease (EVD).

Marburgviruses are endemic in arid woodlands of equatorial Africa. Most marburgvirus infections were repeatedly associated with people visiting natural caves or working in mines. In 2009, the successful isolation of infectious MARV and RAVV was reported from healthy Egyptian rousettes (Rousettus aegyptiacus) caught in caves. This isolation strongly suggests that Old World fruit bats are involved in the natural maintenance of marburgviruses and that visiting bat-infested caves is a risk factor for acquiring marburgvirus infections. Further studies are necessary to establish whether Egyptian rousettes are the actual hosts of MARV and RAVV or whether they get infected via contact with another animal and therefore serve only as intermediate hosts. Another risk factor is contact with nonhuman primates, although only one outbreak of MVD (in 1967) was due to contact with infected monkeys.

Finally, a major risk factor for acquiring marburgvirus infection is occupational exposure, i.e. treating patients with MVD without proper personal protective equipment.