By Rodney Muhumuza
An outbreak in Rwanda of the Ebola-like Marburg fever is under control and travel bans targeting the East African country are unnecessary, the head of Africa’s top public health agency said Thursday.
Rwanda declared the outbreak on Sept. 27 and has so far reported that 13 people have died.
There is no authorized vaccine or treatment for Marburg. Last week, Rwanda received 700 doses of a vaccine under trial from the U.S.-based Sabin Vaccine Institute, for health workers and emergency responders as well as individuals who have been in contact with confirmed cases
According to Jean Kaseya of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk of Marburg spreading out of Rwanda is almost zero. He praised Rwanda for what he said was a strong response to the outbreak by a range of government officials.
“The mechanism they put in place even to follow the contacts, no contact can
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