Muscat: Oman's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Thursday issued travel guidelines to passengers and airlines in the wake of Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) outbreaks in Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea.
Oman's Ministry of Health (MoH) earlier issued a statement confirming that it is monitoring the situation in these two countries as the virus is highly contagious and with a death rate of 60 to 80%. MoH advised travellers not to visit these two countries unless absolutely necessary.
Five people have died and three others are infected with the Marburg virus – a highly infectious, Ebola-like disease – in Tanzania’s north-west Kagera region, authorities said earlier this week.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 161 people have been identified as at risk of infection through contact tracing and are currently being monitored. An emergency response team has been deployed in the area and no other cases of the virus have been reported in the country outside Kagera, The Guardian reported.
Marburg virus disease (MVD) is a rare but severe hemorrhagic fever which affects both people and non-human primates. MVD is caused by the Marburg virus, a genetically unique zoonotic (or, animal-borne) RNA virus of the filovirus family. The six species of Ebola virus are the only other known members of the filovirus family.
Marburg spreads between people via direct contact through broken skin or mucous membranes with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials such as bedding, clothing contaminated with these fluids. Healthcare workers have previously been infected while treating patients with suspected or confirmed MVD. Burial ceremonies that involve direct contact with the body of the deceased can also contribute to the transmission of Marburg.
CAA travel guideline
Due to confirmed outbreaks of Marburg virus disease (MVD) in the United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, and in coordination with the Medical Response and Public Health Sector and other competent authorities, the Civil Aviation Authority hereby informs all passengers and aircraft operators in the Sultanate of Oman on the following:-
Travelers should postpond travel to countries affected by the Marburg virus disease unless necessary.
Travelers to countries affected by Marburg virus disease for urgent reasons should take the following precautions:-
1. Avoid contact with patients with symptoms such as fever, muscle aches and rashes, and avoid visiting disease-endemic areas in those countries.
2. Avoid contact with blood and any body fluids of other people.
3. Avoid visiting caves and mines where bats live and avoid touching them.
4. Avoid contact with animals such as chimpanzees and gorillas.
5. Travelers arriving from endemic countries should isolate themselves from others and go to the nearest health institution, and inform the doctor of traveling to a country affected by Marburg virus disease, when the following symptoms appear: fever, chills, muscle pain, sore throat, diarrhea, weakness, vomiting, stomach pain, unexplained bleeding from anywhere on the body, or bruising during or after
travel up to 21 days.
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