Marburg
Marburg virus causes a severe, often fatal illness with bleeding and shock; stopping outbreaks requires fast contact tracing, safe burials, and strict infection control.
Snapshot: 9/21/2026, 3:30:49 PM · 1 tracked locations · 1,329 active cases (dataset)
At a glance
Quick facts
- How it spreads
- Direct contact with blood, secretions, organs, or surfaces contaminated by symptomatic or deceased patients drives chains of transmission.
- How serious
- About 5.7 of every 100 confirmed cases died
- Where it's active
- Highest current burden: Rwanda (RW).
- Vaccine / treatment
- Ring vaccination where licensed products exist, safe dignified burials, PPE training, and community surveillance reduce reproductive number of chains.
Important
Virus Tracker provides aggregated outbreak monitoring for education and situational awareness. It is not medical advice, a diagnostic service, or a substitute for guidance from qualified health professionals or official public health agencies. Always consult licensed clinicians and authoritative sources for personal health decisions.
Overview
Marburg virus disease (MVD) is filovirus-related to Ebola virus disease. Fruit bats are reservoir hosts; human outbreaks often amplify in healthcare settings. High mortality and stigma complicate control. Virus Tracker offers geographic context for open metrics where available.
Transmission
Direct contact with blood, secretions, organs, or surfaces contaminated by symptomatic or deceased patients drives chains of transmission.
Symptoms & clinical notes
Sudden onset fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, hemorrhagic signs in severe cases. Early supportive care and isolation are essential.
Prevention & control
Ring vaccination where licensed products exist, safe dignified burials, PPE training, and community surveillance reduce reproductive number of chains.
Surveillance context
GeneXpert-style rapid tests and contact tracing timelines define success metrics alongside traditional case counts.
Live dataset
Key metrics
Active cases
1.3K
Deaths
430
How fast it's spreading
23.0%
RisingMarburg — global infection heat map
Country shading reflects relative active-case intensity from the current Virus Tracker dataset for this pathogen. Hover countries on desktop for counts.
Darker red = more people currently sick.
Live dataset
Trajectory outlook
Projected case trend with a modeled confidence range.
Projected case trajectory for Marburg, with a shaded confidence range, based on the current Virus Tracker dataset.
Illustrative estimateLive dataset
Top regions by active cases
The 1 tracked location with the most active Marburg cases in the current dataset.
Top 1 tracked location for Marburg by active cases, ranked highest to lowest.
Live dataset
Threat intelligence visuals
Threat matrix
How fast vs. how deadly
Each bubble is a threat. Bigger bubbles mean more people are currently sick.
Where this data comes from
11 of 15 sources are reporting normally.
- 11 healthy sourcesHealthy
- 4 sources downDown
- Data reliability
- 40%
- Confidence-adjusted exposure
- 532
Overall threat level
Where it's hitting hardest
- Rwanda1.3K active · score 19.6
Dataset
Top affected regions
| Location | Active | Deaths | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rwanda (RW) | 1,329 | 430 | Rising |
Frequently asked questions
How do people catch Marburg virus?
Initial infections usually come from contact with fruit bats or their droppings in caves or mines. After that, it spreads between people through direct contact with blood or other body fluids.
Is there a vaccine?
An experimental vaccine has been used in ring-vaccination trials during outbreaks, but no product is yet fully licensed for general use.
How deadly is Marburg virus disease?
Case-fatality rates have varied widely between outbreaks, from roughly 20% to over 80%, depending on the virus strain and how quickly patients receive care.
Is this page medical advice?
Virus Tracker provides aggregated outbreak monitoring for education and situational awareness. It is not medical advice, a diagnostic service, or a substitute for guidance from qualified health professionals or official public health agencies. Always consult licensed clinicians and authoritative sources for personal health decisions.
What does "outbreak activity" mean on Virus Tracker?
Outbreak activity reflects active-case burden relative to recoveries in our models. It helps compare stressed outbreak zones within the dataset—it is not a clinical score.
How often is this wiki updated?
Figures refresh on the site’s ingestion and revalidation schedule (typically about every 30 minutes in production). Timestamps on the dashboard snapshot indicate the last build of the underlying dataset.
Why might the heat map not match official government totals?
We merge multiple open sources and fallbacks; reporting lag, testing policy, and geographic coverage differ by country. Use national health ministries for authoritative case definitions.
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