A medical student and his girlfriend were quarantined and transported for further testing after they developed flu-like symptoms on a high-speed train at Hamburg Central Station in northern Germany.
According to Bloomerg, the couple had recently arrived in Frankfurt from Rwanda, where the student had been working at a hospital treating Marburg patients. Rwanda had recently declared a Marburg outbreak after reporting 9 deaths due to the deadly virus.
Platform four at the station was temporarily closed as a team of police and firefighters responded to the situation. The man and his girlfriend were then taken to a specialist clinic for further evaluation and treatment.
Marburg virus disease is a highly dangerous illness that can lead to severe hemorrhagic fever, with a mortality rate that can reach up to 88%. It belongs to the same viral family as Ebola virus disease and produces symptoms such as fever, headaches, vomiting, and diarrhoea. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “on average, the Marburg virus kills half of the people it infects.”
The virus originates from prolonged exposure to mines or caves housing Rousettus bat colonies. Human-to-human transmission occurs through direct contact with infected bodily fluids, secretions, organs, or contaminated surfaces and materials.
Marburg virus was first identified in 1967 when lab workers in Marburg, Frankfurt, and Serbia were infected with a previously unknown infectious agent.