Are We Prepared for Marburg Virus's Next Outbreak?

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced it would conduct a digital webinar tomorrow discussing Marburg virus vaccine and therapeutic candidates and how research can be integrated during future outbreaks.

The recent emergence of the Marburg virus (MARV) in Equatorial Guinea (Feb. 2023) and Ghana triggered the assembly of the "MARVAC" consortium in 2022 to facilitate a rapid response to this infectious disease threat. 

As of March 9, 2023, several MARV vaccine candidates are conducting early-stage clinical studies. 

On March 10, 2023, at 14:00 CET, from this Zoom link, the WHO R&D Blueprint is organizing a consultation with the MARVAC partners and focal points from at-risk countries to discuss this preliminary agenda:

• Outbreak sit rep, including diagnostics and epidemiology,
• Review of core trial protocols for vaccines and therapeutics,
• Panel discussion from at-risk country focal points

Since 1967, Angola, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea,  Cameroon, Germany,  Ghana,  Guinea,  Kenya,  Serbia, South Africa, and Uganda have confirmed Marburg cases.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the History of Marburg outbreaks.