Ethiopia on Friday confirmed its first Marburg outbreak after nine cases were identified in a southern region of the country that borders South Sudan.
The World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised the Ethiopian government’s fast action, saying it showed a “commitment to bringing the outbreak under control quickly.”
Ethiopia’s government had reported on Thursday that it was investigating a possible outbreak of an unidentified viral hemorrhagic fever and was lauded by the continental health emergency body, Africa CDC, for its transparency.
The WHO sent a technical team on Thursday to support the East African country in testing and outbreak response.
“WHO is also providing essential supplies, including personal protective equipment for health workers and infection-prevention supplies, as well as a rapidly deployable isolation tent to bolster clinical care and management capacity,” the U.N. agency said in a statement.
The outbreak was reported in the southern region of Omo, which borders South Sudan. Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said Thursday that the outbreak was a concern because “South Sudan isn’t far and has a fragile health system.”
