The official spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population, Dr. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, confirmed that Egypt has not recorded the presence of any new or high-risk viruses, and that the "epidemiological situation" in the country is completely stable, and no cases of Marburg virus have been recorded.
Abdel Ghaffar explained that the Marboq virus, which caused panic on social media platforms in Egypt after its spread in African countries, is transmitted by contact with the patient's body fluids, and not through the air, explaining that it comes from a type of bat that is not found in Egypt.
Marburg virus is an RNA virus belonging to the Filoviridae family, the same family as the Ebola virus. It causes an acute viral disease known as "Marburg hemorrhagic fever." It was first discovered in 1967 in the German city of Marburg, after samples from infected African bats were transferred to a laboratory there, resulting in 31 people being infected and 7 of them dying.
The virus is rare but extremely dangerous, with mortality rates in previous outbreaks ranging between 24% and 88%, depending on the viral strain and the quality of medical care.
Abdel Ghaffar explained that travel between the countries affected by this disease, the "hotspots" of infection, and Egypt is not heavy, adding that the surveillance system of the Ministry of Health is monitoring the epidemics at the local and global levels.
He confirmed that "until this moment there are no cases of Marburg virus in Egypt," stressing that the ministry is monitoring the global situation hour by hour and will not hesitate to inform citizens of any developments with complete transparency.
On the other hand, the spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Health pointed out that the rates of respiratory virus infection rise annually during this period, stressing that infection rates have remained stable during the same period over the past years.
He said that influenza has the highest infection rate among respiratory viruses at 66% of the total number of cases, followed by rhinovirus at 16%, and then the syncytial virus at an infection rate of 1
He explained that respiratory viruses affect the upper respiratory system and also the digestive system, causing diarrhea, stressing that they are the same respiratory viruses with the same symptoms that recur every year.
He added that, in assessing the severity of symptoms, influenza A comes first, followed by syncytial virus, then influenza B, and finally coronavirus.