The Travel Doctor
Traveller's medical & vaccination centre
Health Alerts
Travel Doctor TMVC provides the latest health and travel alerts, including updates from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
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Marburg Fever acquired in Uganda
Monday, 2 February, 2009
The United States Centers for Disease Control has recently determined that a US citizen who became ill in January 2008 contracted Marburg hemorrhagic fever after a trip to Uganda. The patient developed illness 4 days after returning to the U.S., was hospitalized and is now fully recovered . No other cases have been identified in the United States at this time and there is no evidence that this traveler infected other people.
Marburg hemorrhagic fever is a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by the Marburg virus. The main ways that travellers may get Marburg virus are through direct contact with a patient suffering from Marburg hemorrhagic fever or through direct contact with infected bats, monkeys, or other wild animals that may be infected.
During her trip to Uganda, the traveler visited “the python cave” in the Maramagambo Forest in western Uganda (at the southern edge of Queen Elizabeth National Park). A popular tourist destination, this cave contains large numbers of fruit bats. In July 2008, a Dutch tourist visited this same cave and died from infection due to Marburg virus after she returned home. [see our Health Alert of 22 July 2008]
Travelers should be aware of the serious health risks associated with visiting caves in the Maramagambo Forest in Uganda and in other areas of Africa as well visiting old mines where bats may live. Apart from Marburg fever these risks include rabies, and histoplasmosis.
