Ethiopia has confirmed an outbreak of the most life-threatening Marburg virus in the south of the country, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Marburg is the world’s most dangerous virus. Similar to Ebola, it causes severe bleeding, vomiting, high fever, and diarrhea, with an incubation period of nearly 21 days.
It is transmitted via direct contact with body fluids with a mortality rate ranging from 25% to 80%.
On Friday, the World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that at least nine cases had been identified in southern Ethiopia.
This confirmation came two days after Africa CDC was first alerted to a suspected hemorrhagic fever outbreak in the region.
The Africa CDC stated that Ethiopia’s National Reference Laboratory verified the cases and that early investigations indicated the virus strain is similar to others previously discovered in East Africa.
Ethiopian health officials acted rapidly to detect and contain the outbreak in the Jinka area.
The agency announced support for Ethiopia to prevent the virus transmission to other parts of East Africa.
Recently, Marburg outbreaks affected nearby countries.
Marburg affected Tanzania in the starting of 2025, affecting 10 people, and Rwanda eliminated its first-known outbreak in 2025 following 15 deaths.
Currently, none of the vaccine or antiviral treatment for the disease has been approved yet. It can only be treated by rehydration therapy and supportive care to improve survival.
Recently, Rwanda experimented with a vaccine developed by the U.S.-based Sabin Vaccine Institute.
