2024/12/16 by Yvan Butera, Léon Mutesa, Edyth Parker +64 · 2 voices · 4 citations
Medicine · #Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research #Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology #Hepatitis B Virus Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41591-024-03459-9
The ongoing outbreak of Marburg virus disease in Rwanda marks the third largest historically, although it has shown the lowest fatality rate. Genomic analysis of samples from 18 cases identified a lineage with limited internal diversity, closely related to a 2014 Ugandan case. Our findings suggest that the Rwandan lineage diverged decades ago from a common ancestor shared with diversity sampled from bats in Uganda. Our genomic data reveal limited genetic variation, consistent with a single zoonotic transmission event and limited human-to-human transmission. Investigations including contact tracing, clinical assessments, sequencing and serology, linked the index case to a mining cave inhabited by Rousettus aegyptiacus. Serology tests identified three individuals seropositive for immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M, further supporting the zoonotic origin of the outbreak through human-animal interactions.