Dr. Kaseya, Africa CDC Director General, and Dr. Nsanzimana, Rwanda’s Minister of Health, virtually briefed the media on the Marburg outbreak.
The Director General of Africa Centre for Disease Control (Africa CDC), Dr. Jean Kaseya says Rwanda has managed to tame the spread of the Marburg Virus Disease (MVD), pointing out that there is a limited chance that the virus can now spread out of the country, following concerted efforts to nip the outbreak in the bud.
Dr. Kaseya, who was in Rwanda to attend the 2nd Biashara Afrika African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and assess the country’s efforts to contain the deadly viral hemorrhagic fever said have paid off, reiterating that travel advisories issues against the country do not reflect the situation on the ground.
In a Special Briefing on Mpox and Other Health Emergencies, including Marburg, Dr. Kaseya, who was accompanied by Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, Minister of Health, said that he was impressed by Rwanda’s efforts to trace and treat contacts, reassuring the world that the outbreak is under control.
“We are congratulating Rwanda because what I saw in Rwanda is amazing. I haven’t seen it in many African countries, this kind of organisation, in terms of responding to the outbreak,” Dr. Kaseya said.
“From what I saw in Rwanda, there is almost is almost a zero risk, because we cannot say 100% sure, but I can say that at 95% from what I saw that there zero risk for Rwanda to spread the disease out of Rwanda,” Dr. Kaseya said, pointing out that the mechanisms the country has put in place are working.
From the call centre and all institutions working together, including law enforcement organs and health facilities such as hospitals and ambulances, Dr. Kaseya said that Rwanda is doing all it came to control the virus which was first reported in Rwanda at the end of September.
The Africa CDC head who visited response centres said that the way Rwanda has centralised efforts, being able to locate contacts and dispatch an ambulance wherever a case is reported in any part of the country, shows how the country has prioritised efforts to tame the Marburg virus.
Dr. Kaseya said that the country is able to deploy personnel in a timely manner, adding that Rwanda has handled the Marburg outbreak with transparency and any country that deals with something in an effective and transparent manner cannot be punished, in reference to travel advisories from western countries, which warn people against travelling to Rwanda.
“The mechanisms that have been put in place to follow contacts show that no contact can fly out of Rwanda. This is amazing because they are monitoring these contacts on a daily basis. I also want to say that Rwanda is applying transparency and when a country is applying transparency, it cannot be punished.
“We believe that all our partners, all of our Western countries saw the statement from Africa CDC, supported also by the World Health Organisation, to say that a travel ban cannot be applied, especially for a country doing more than what the world is doing to control an outbreak,” he said, declaring that the outbreak in Rwanda is controlled.
“Yesterday I was amazed to receive the report for the day. There was zero new case, zero death. It means we are expecting to see Rwanda out of this outbreak very soon. The way they are managing this outbreak, the fatality rate is 22 percent,”
Compared to previous outbreaks in 2023 and 2022, which had fatality rates ranging between 60% to 85%, Dr. Kaseya said that it can loudly be said that Rwanda is putting in place all mechanism to contain the outbreak, including vaccination as well as treatment of patients, thanks to the vaccines and therapeutics the country has received.
Dr. Nsanzimana thanked international partners who have provided support, including vaccines and therapeutics being used in the treatment, all of which have been deployed to contain a possible spread.
Dr. Nsanzimana, Minister of Health, commended the role Africa CDC has played in supporting Rwanda to deal with the Marburg outbreak, dispatching a team to Rwanda immediately, after the country confirmed the first cases of Marburg virus at the end of September.
The Minister of Health said that since the outbreak was declared, the country immediately put together efforts to respond and to stop Marburg before it could spread to other places.
Rwanda began rolling out vaccines against Marburg virus, starting with frontline workers.
“I’ll say that we are making progress. The positive cases that were identified were treated and their contacts as well. So, as of today, we have 58 confirmed cases of Marburg Virus Disease. Unfortunately, we lost 13 people and we also have 12 people who recovered from this disease, which is good news,” Dr. Nsanzimana said.
The Ministry on Thursday said there were no new cases reported and there were three recovering, putting the number of patients who have recovered from Marburg virus at 15.
“We estimate a calculated fatality rate of about 22% and we want to keep this as low as possible, but at the same time also stopping the new transmission. That’s why intensifying testing is a key strategy together with contact tracing, but also ensuring that the population is aware,”
“We’ve conducted close to 3,000 tests. These are generally everyone presenting symptoms suggestive to Marburg but these also include contacts of these people that were tested at a different times,” Dr. Nsanzimana said, adding that Rwanda has put in place measures at points of entry, including at Kigali International Airport and land borders, to ensure that no infection is exported outside Rwanda.
“It is our International health regulation responsibility that we protect our communities or population here but also the population of the world and this depends on our response to this virus,” he said.
Among other things, he said the Government of Rwanda has put in place screening mechanisms, listed all contacts and has also put in place an electronic system that ensures that close contacts of patients are quarantined and monitored and prevented from travelling in and outside the country, to avoid transmission or exporting the virus.
He said that with the support of partners, Rwanda is showing that even a deadly outbreak with such a high fatality rate can be contained when people join forces.
Speaking at the opening of the 2nd Biashara Afrika AfCFTA gathering in Kigali on October 9, President Paul Kagame assured the world that Rwanda will do all it can to contain the Marburg Virus Disease, to ensure that it does not spiral out of control.
