Uganda confirmed Marburg virus disease in a child aged one year and five months after enhanced Ebola surveillance detected the infection in the western Kyegegwa District, according to the World Health Organization. The case had initially been suspected to involve Bundibugyo Ebola before laboratory work identified Marburg.
Uganda notified the WHO on June 30. Health authorities began monitoring every identified contact, and WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said none had shown symptoms at the time of the July 2 briefing. The agency was supporting work to determine the source of exposure, evaluate the public-health risk and engage with the community.
Marburg and Ebola are caused by different viruses but can produce clinically similar haemorrhagic fevers and outbreaks with high fatality rates. Marburg passes to humans from fruit bats and can then spread between people. Individuals do not transmit the disease before symptoms begin, but remain infectious while the virus is present in their blood. Direct contact with a deceased patient during burial practices can also spread infection.
The WHO puts Marburg’s average case-fatality rate at about 50%, with past outbreaks ranging from 24% to 88%. There is no approved vaccine or antiviral treatment. Early supportive care, including rehydration and treatment of specific symptoms, can improve a patient’s chance of survival. Officials did not provide the toddler’s condition or treatment details.
The case emerged while Uganda was responding to Ebola infections linked to an outbreak in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tedros said Uganda had reported no new Ebola cases since June 21. WHO figures listed 20 confirmed Ebola cases in Uganda, including two deaths and 15 recoveries.
WHO emergencies director Chikwe Ihekweazu said Uganda had a strong record of investigating viral haemorrhagic fevers. The agency said intensive testing increases the chance of finding sporadic cases that might otherwise go undetected. Detection during Ebola surveillance demonstrated how one monitoring system could identify a different but clinically related disease.
Marburg outbreaks had affected Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa and Tanzania in recent years. Ethiopia declared its first recorded outbreak over in January after nine deaths among 14 cases. Those events provided epidemiological context but did not establish the Ugandan child’s exposure route.
With contacts asymptomatic at the reported point, the response centred on observation and investigation rather than a declared chain of transmission. Continued follow-up was necessary because the absence of symptoms at one moment did not resolve the source or rule out later illness among monitored contacts.
The Ebola and Marburg figures must remain separate: the single confirmed Marburg infection was not part of the 20-case Ebola total. Their clinical resemblance explains the initial suspicion and shared surveillance, while laboratory identification determines which outbreak record applies. No onward Marburg case had been confirmed in the information released for July 2.
