The Ministry of Health (MoH) has called on the public to immediately report any signs or suspected cases of Marburg hemorrhagic fever, as steps are taken to prevent the deadly virus.
The warning comes at a time when an outbreak of the deadly virus has been confirmed in neighbouring Uganda. On Friday, Uganda's Health Ministry confirmed the highly infectious viral hemorrhagic fever in Kitumba Sub-county, Kabale District in South-Western Uganda.
"Following reported outbreaks of the deadly Marburg hemorrhagic fever in neighbouring Uganda, the Ministry of Health is cautioning the public to remain vigilant as the government steps up measures of preventing in-flow of the deadly virus into Rwanda," reads the warning, a copy of which The Sunday Times has received.
By Saturday, the deadly virus had claimed four people from the same family in Kabale.
Marburg hemorrhagic fever is a highly contagious disease transmitted from person to person and characterised by fever, headache, joint and muscle pain.
A person suffering from it also experiences sore throat, weakness, diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pains and bleeding from all body openings, i.e eyes, nose,gums, ears, anus and the skin.
"Kabale District borders Rwanda, and specifically, the Districts of Gicumbi, Musanze, Nyagatare, and Burera that share a boarder with Uganda are at a high risk," the warning reads.
MoH, in collaboration with its partners, and through the emergency preparedness team, is taking actions to prevent potential health risks that might be caused by the deadly disease.
Alert warnings have been issued to all health centres on how to detect and handle cases once they arise. Health care providers at District Hospitals and Health Centres have been trained to prevent and manage the fever.
All necessary kits and medical supplies needed have been dispatched to all health facilities.
Members of public are required to seek medical attention at the nearest health facility especially those who visited Uganda and are experiencing signs or suspect they might be having the virus.
The ministry says it has elaborated plans to effectively respond should there be an outbreak. It, however, urges the public to stay calm. http://allafrica.com/stories/201210210096.html
Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, said on "CBS This Morning" that he expects a "steady increase" in the number of fungal meningitis infections over the coming weeks.
The move on Monday by the Food and Drug Administration to widen its investigation into the cause of the fungal meningitis outbreak to other drugs made by a Massachusetts pharmacy, the New England Compounding Center (NECC), is "ominous," Schaffner said.
"We were concerned that there might be other medications that might be contaminated coming from that pharmacy," said Schaffner, who is past-president of National Foundation for Infectious Disease. "The FDA has given us a heads up that that looks to be the case. We'll have to notify many more patients across the country that they may have been exposed to a fungal infection."
"I think we're still in the middle," Schaffner said, when asked about the outbreak's scope. "We're nowhere near the end of this problem. And we will see more patients reporting in ill and we'll have to treat many more going forward."
The FDA said Monday it was looking into two other drugs made by NECC, based outside of Boston in Framingham, Massachusetts.
The agency said it had received reports of a patient with possible meningitis who received an injection of a different steroid than the one found to have caused 15 deaths. It also said two transplant patients were infected with the rare fungus linked to the meningitis outbreak after receiving a heart drug also made by NECC.
Also on Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said nine more people were diagnosed with fungal meningitis linked to possibly tainted vials of the injected steroid methylprednisolone, bringing the number of cases to 212.
The patient identified by the FDA as potentially having meningitis received an injection of the steroid triamcinolone, also supplied by NECC.
The FDA said its investigation of that patient and the two who received the heart drug during surgery was ongoing, and it cautioned that any injectable drugs made by NECC, including those intended for use in eyes, are of "significant concern."
The FD.. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/16/meningitis-outbreak-nowhere-near-end-wiliam-schaffner_n_1969927.html