Overview Of The Marburg Virus

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Implications and Threats to Society as a Result of the Marburg Virus
The World Health Organization states that Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) was first apparent in 1967 in Germany, specifically in the Marburg and Frankfurt areas of Germany, hence the name, Marburg virus. The transporters of this disease were believed to have been monkeys from Uganda, and it is a very deadly and fatal disease in which the virus is similar in strain as the one that causes the Ebola virus. Although rare, MVD has the ability to be extremely deadly within an infected society. Outbreaks can prove to be dramatic and if not communicated within the proper societal channels, can be overwhelming to the human race. Outbreaks in history from the Marburg virus have been contained appropriately however, it is vital for health and protection agencies to collaborate in order to contain any future “accidental” or “man-made” outbreaks (World Health Organization, 2012).
Implications of MVD
Also considered as a hemorrhagic fever, MVD can affect both humans and animals, specifically those of primate species. The virus is classified as a unique strand – so unique that it is one of five in the same family to include that strand of the Ebola virus. The virus can contain as little as one strand to be contagious and can survive up to two weeks in blood specimens at room temperature. The incubation period, which is the time between exposure and when symptoms begin to appear in victims, is 2-21 days. Research suggests that the RNA strand is a filo-virus and that the highest inter-human transmission takes place from contact with body fluids or injections. Subcutaneous transmission also occurs especially when caring for an ailing loved one and/or disposing or pr...

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...irus is lethal; however continued vigilance of those communities that are most susceptible to outbreaks and those organizations handling these bio-hazard strains will enable containment in hopes of a direct and primary cure.

Works Cited

Homeland Security News Wire. (2013). Bioterrorism: Marburg drug shows promise.
Retrieved from http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20130307-marburg-drug- shows-promise. Palmer, S.R. (2011). Oxford textbook of zoonoses: Biology, clinical practice and public health
Control. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Peters, C.J. (2005). Marburg and ebola- Arming ourselves against the deadly filoviruses. The
New England Journal of Medicine, 352. 2571-2573.

World Health Organization (2012). Media centre: Marburg hemorrhagic fever. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs_marburg/en/

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