Cases of Marburg going unreported in Equatorial Guinea, WHO says
he Marburg outbreak in Equatorial Guinea continues to grow, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, as the global health agency stated that it knows of confirmed cases that the country has not yet reported.
To date Equatorial Guinea has acknowledged nine laboratory-confirmed cases, seven of whom have died. In addition, 20 other people with links to the confirmed cases died without being tested; they are considered probable cases. Throughout this outbreak, which is believed to have begun in early January, the government has been slow to release updates; last week the WHO expressed fears there may be undetected chains of transmission.
“WHO is aware of additional cases and we have asked the government to report these cases officially to WHO,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during the WHO’s weekly press conference.