Marburg
Marburg Playbook
Marburg virus disease (MVD) can cause a viral hemorrhagic fever clinical pattern that is similar to Ebola.
APIC Resources and Tools
Click here to download the APIC Marburg Playbook
- Developed by the APIC Emerging Infectious Diseases Task Force to help infection preventionists rapidly activate marburg prevention efforts
- The playbook is a concise workflow document that is designed to be user-friendly and operational for busy infection preventionists
Click here to access the APIC Text – Chapter 95: Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers
- Chapter 95 of the APIC Text provides comprehensive guidance for an infection preventionist on Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers, including Marburg
About Marburg
- The Marburg virus causes Marburg virus disease (MVD), a member of the Filorviridae family, the same family as the Ebola virus
- Case fatality rates have reached as high as 88%, depending on the outbreak and response capacity
- MVD usually spreads from African fruit bats (animals) to humans
- MVD can also spread from human to human via direct contact with an infected individual’s bodily fluids or through contact with contaminated surfaces
- Incubation Period: 2 to 21 days (average 5 to 10 days)
- MVD produces a viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) clinical pattern similar to Ebola
- First identified in 1967 during simultaneous outbreaks in Germany and Serbia linked to imported African green monkeys (WHO, 2024)
- Sporadic outbreaks over the last 20 years in Central, East, and West Africa
- 2025: January outbreak in Kagera, Tanzania, near borders with Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This highlights cross-border transmission risks
- 2024: WHO confirmed the first MVD outbreak in Rwanda (fall 2024). The outbreak escalated rapidly but was contained through surveillance, isolation, and contact tracing. This outbreak had a total of 66 cases and 15 deaths, most among healthcare workers (WHO, 2024)
- 2023: Tanzania’s first MVD outbreak in the Kagera region
Additional External Resources
