Marburg virus disease: Emerging threat, pathogenesis, and global public health strategies

Table 1 Comparative overview of Marburg virus and Ebola virus

Feature	MARV	Ebola virus
Virus family	Filoviridae	Filoviridae
First identified outbreak	1967: Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, and Belgrade, Serbia	1976: Yambuku, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nzara, Sudan
Origin of outbreaks	African green monkeys imported from Uganda	Suspected zoonotic transmission, with bats as reservoirs and transmission to humans or other primates
Reservoir hosts	Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) suspected	Fruit bats (Pteropodidae family), particularly Eidolon helvum
Case fatality rate (%)	24%-90%, depending on outbreak and case management	25%-90%, depending on outbreak and case management
Geographic distribution	Primarily sub-Saharan Africa	Primarily sub-Saharan Africa
Symptoms	Hemorrhagic fever, severe malaise, high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, organ dysfunction	Similarto MARV: Hemorrhagic fever, malaise, vomiting, diarrhea, multi-organ failure
Transmission	Direct contact with bodily fluids (e.g., blood, saliva, urine) of infected persons or animals	Direct contact with bodily fluids of infected persons or animals, contaminated surfaces
Laboratory diagnosis	PCR, ELISA, virus isolation	PCR, ELISA, virus isolation
Vaccines	No approved vaccine (research ongoing)	Approved vaccines available (e.g., rVSV-ZEBOV for Zaire strain)
Notable outbreaks	Angola (2004-2005), Democratic Republic of the Congo (1998-2000)	West Africa (2014-2016), Democratic Republic of the Congo (multiple outbreaks)

ELISA: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; MARV: Marburg virus; PCR: Polymerase chain reaction.