Russian neighbor tests airport arrivals for killer disease

Kazakhstan has taken steps to prevent the introduction and spread of Marburg virus, citing a WHO warning

The health authorities in Kazakhstan have introduced mandatory body temperature checks of passengers arriving in the country’s airports from abroad, according to a statement on Monday. This comes amid an outbreak of a highly infectious and potentially lethal disease in Africa. 

The illness, known as Marburg virus disease (MVD), starts with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, sore throat, and abdominal pain. In some cases, patients die through extreme blood loss. The virus spreads between people through contact with bodily fluids or with surfaces, such as contaminated bedsheets.

Marburg is from the same family of viruses as Ebola but has been described as more severe.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the disease has a fatality rate of up to 88%. An outbreak of MVD was confirmed last month by the health authorities in Rwanda.

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Kazakhstan’s health officials have cited a warning issued by WHO last week stating that there is a high risk of the outbreak spreading beyond the East African country.

“In order to prevent the virus from entering and spreading in [Kazakhstan]… non-contact temperature measurement of all arriving passengers is carried out at international airports,” Chief Sanitary Doctor Sarhat Beisenova has said.

At least 46 cases of MVD have been reported in Rwanda, mainly among health workers. At least 12 people have died from the disease since the outbreak was declared on September 27. On Sunday, Rwanda announced a vaccination drive.

The virus is named after the German city where it was first detected in 1967. Scientists became ill while handling monkeys imported from Africa in what were the first known cases of MVD. The virus is carried by the Egyptian fruit bat, a type of bat found in mines and caves.

The Kazakh authorities have warned against visiting caves and mines, and coming into close contact with wild animals in Africa.

MVD outbreaks were also previously registered in Equatorial Guinea, Tanzania, Angola, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, and South Africa.

“People are coming into closer contact with wildlife everywhere in the world,” Dr. Amira A. Roess, a professor of global health and epidemiology at George Mason University, told the New York Times. “Wildlife is adapting to contact with humans. It is worrisome,” she added. 

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Last week, the WHO assessed the risk of outbreak as very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at the global level.

Russian health officials have since acknowledged that MVD could reach the country but said it would not spread.

No confirmed cases of MVD related to the Rwanda outbreak have been reported in the US or other countries outside of the East African nation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week.