Marburg Disease Outbreak in Eastern Africa

Marburg virus disease has been detected in the South Ethiopia Region, the first of its kind in the country, following laboratory testing of samples from a cluster of suspected cases of viral haemorrhagic fever.

As of November 14, 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported a total of 9 cases in the outbreak affecting Jinka town in the South Ethiopia Region.

In the African region, previous Marburg outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Marburg's initial outbreak was detected in Germany in 1967.

Marburg is a severe and often fatal illness transmitted to humans from fruit bats and spreads among people through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or contaminated materials.

The WHO and national authorities are scaling up the response, including community-wide screening, case isolation, treatment, contact tracing, and public awareness campaigns to curb the spread of the Marburg virus, which belongs to the same family of viruses as Ebola virus disease.

Currently, no approved Marburg vaccines are available.

However, in April 2025, the Albert B. Sabin Vaccine Institute recently launched a multi-site Phase 2 clinical trial in the U.S. for its Marburg vaccine candidate, based on the cAd3 platform.

Currently, about five other Marburg vaccine candidates are being tested in clinical research.

Updated on November 17, 2025 - Organisations undertaking business in Ebola or Marburg-affected areas should register with the UK Health Security Agency returning workers scheme.