Possible Marburg virus infection detected in Spain

Patient had spent time in Equatorial Guinea, where an outbreak of the disease was confirmed this month

A colourised transmission electron micrograph shows Marburg virus particles in blue. BSIP SA / Alamy

A suspected case of the deadly Marburg virus has been detected in Spain’s Valencia region, Spanish media reported on Saturday.

The patient, a 34-year-old man, had spent time in Equatorial Guinea, which reported a confirmed outbreak of the haemorrhagic disease this month, the Diario do Alicante reported.

The man has been placed in isolation at La Fe hospital in Valencia after showing symptoms of the disease, and biological samples have been sent to the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid for testing, it said.

Equatorial Guinea has so far reported nine deaths from the Marburg virus and 16 suspected cases. The patients had symptoms including fever, fatigue and bloodstained vomit and diarrhoea, according to the World Health Organisation. At least two other suspected cases were reported across the border in Cameroon.

The Marburg virus is a highly infectious disease similar to Ebola and can have a fatality rate of up to 88 per cent, according to the WHO. There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat it.

It is transmitted to humans by fruit bats and spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials.

The disease was first detected in 1967 after simultaneous outbreaks in the German cities of Marburg and Frankfurt, and in Belgrade, Serbia.

According the WHO, the illness begins abruptly with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. Many patients develop severe haemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.