Hospitals should be prepared for possible entry of Marburg virus in Philippines — expert

An infectious disease expert on Wednesday said the country’s healthcare facilities should be prepared in case the Marbug virus, a highly infectious disease similar to Ebola, enters the Philippines.

At a Laging Handa briefing, Dr. Rontgene Solante said the government should implement the same policies on how to handle, contain, and prevent the Marburg virus just like how it did during the Ebola scare in 2016.

“Sa 'kin, hindi ‘yan remote na puwede tayong pasukan dito just like any other emerging and reemerging infectious diseases. We always try to prepare for that na hindi makapasok. O kung makapasok man, dapat preparado ang mga healthcare facilities natin,” he said.

(For me, the possibility of the Marburg virus entering our country is not remote, just like any other emerging and reemerging infectious diseases. We always try to prepare for that so that it won’t enter here. But if it does, our healthcare facilities should be prepared.)

'Very low' 

However, Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the current probability of the Marburg virus entering the Philippines is "very low."

“I think the risk of this [entering] our country at ito’y kumalat sa ating bansa ay napakababa,” she said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

“Nevertheless, siyempre laging handa dapat. Ang Kagawaran ng Kalusugan, mula nung na-receive natin ‘yung report na ito from our international health regulations process, tayo ay naghahanda na,” she added.

(I think the risk of this entering and spreading in our country is very low. Nevertheless, of course, we must always be ready. The Department of Health has been preparing since we received this report from our international health regulations process.)

Vergeire said that they are now giving information to their surveillance officers and those at ports of entry to monitor the Marburg virus.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Marburg virus was first detected in 1967 and is “clinically similar” to the Ebola virus. Both diseases are “rare” and may cause “outbreaks with high fatality rates,” it added.

The WHO also said that Marburg virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through human-to-human transmission.

Ghana’s health service recently confirmed two cases of the Marburg virus, after two people who later died tested positive for the virus earlier this month. —KG/VBL, GMA News