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Indonesia on alert amid increase of Marburg virus disease outbreak
The Health Ministry is stepping up surveillance for the deadly Marburg virus disease (MVD), as outbreaks of the highly contagious hemorrhagic fever hit two countries in Africa.
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Micrograph of the Marburg virus (Wikimedia Commons/The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston)
T
he Health Ministry is stepping up surveillance for the deadly Marburg virus disease (MVD) as outbreaks of the highly contagious hemorrhagic fever hit two countries in Africa.
The ministry has ordered officials at border checkpoints to increase monitoring over travelers, vehicles, goods, or animals coming from outbreak-stricken countries, namely Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea.
Authorities have also urged regional health agencies and healthcare facilities to monitor the outbreak development and strengthen their infection prevention and control systems.
The ministry’s spokesperson Mohammad Syahril said health authorities had carried out a rapid risk assessment over MVD on Feb. 20 and found that the importation risk of the viral disease to the country was low.
"Despite this, however, I urge the public to remain vigilant and alert over the disease," he said on Tuesday, adding that no cases of MVD have yet been reported in the country.
In mid-February the World Health Organization reported that Equatorial Guinea, which is located on the west coast of Africa, confirmed its first-ever outbreak of MVD.
The country has so far found nine laboratory-confirmed cases, which lead to seven deaths. Local authorities are also investigating 20 deaths suspected to be linked to the fatal disease.
