A Colorado woman diagnosed with Marburg hemorrhagic fever has recovered, US health authorities reported. It is the first patient diagnosed with the disease in the US.

 

Marburg hemorrhagic fever is caused by a virus indigenous to Africa. The virus, together with the four Ebola viruses, makes up the virus family known as filoviruses. These viruses cause a rare type of serious illness known as hemorrhagic fever. Marburg hemorrhagic fever can occur in both humans and other primates.

 

The Marburg virus was discovered in 1967 when some laboratory workers in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany became ill with hemorrhagic fever. Researchers in Belgrade, Serbia also contracted the disease. The outbreak was traced to exposure to African green monkeys which had been sent to Germany for research purposes and for preparation of polio vaccine.

 

The Colorado woman had traveled to Uganda, where she visited a python cave in Maramagambo Forest in Queen Elizabeth Park. There, she encountered fruit bats, which are possible carriers of the Marburg virus. The cave was closed after a tourist from Netherlands died from Marburg in July. That month, the woman requested additional blood tests being convinced that she had been exposed to the virus. The CDC was also sent blood samples for research and in January 2009, CDC officials made a positive identification of the Marburg virus. The woman, although has made good progress toward recovery, she is still under doctor’s care and hasn’t fully recovered.

 

Signs and symptoms of Marburg hemorrhagic fever usually show in 5 to 10 days after exposure to the virus and usually include fever, chills, headache, myalgia. Nausea, vomiting and chest or abdominal pain may also occur. The disease can worsen and lead to pancreatitis, jaundice, delirium and ultimately shock and multi-organ failure.