Marburg
Marburg Playbook
To help infection preventionists quickly activate Marburg prevention efforts, APIC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases Task Force has created an Marburg Playbook that IPs can download and customize for use in their facilities. The playbook is a concise workflow document that is designed to be user-friendly and operational for busy IPs
About Marburg
- The Marburg virus causes Marburg virus disease (MVD), a member of the Filorviridae family, the same family as the Ebola virus
- Case fatality rates have reached as high as 88%, depending on the outbreak and response capacity
- MVD usually spreads from African fruit bats (animals) to humans
- MVD can also spread from human to human via direct contact with an infected individual’s bodily fluids or through contact with contaminated surfaces
- Incubation Period: 2 to 21 days (average 5 to 10 days)
- MVD produces a viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) clinical pattern similar to Ebola
- First identified in 1967 during simultaneous outbreaks in Germany and Serbia linked to imported African green monkeys (WHO, 2024)
- Sporadic outbreaks over the last 20 years in Central, East, and West Africa
- 2025: January outbreak in Kagera, Tanzania, near borders with Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This highlights cross-border transmission risks
- 2024: WHO confirmed the first MVD outbreak in Rwanda (fall 2024). The outbreak escalated rapidly but was contained through surveillance, isolation, and contact tracing. This outbreak had a total of 66 cases and 15 deaths, most among healthcare workers (WHO, 2024)
- 2023: Tanzania’s first MVD outbreak in the Kagera region
Current Situation
- January 2025: Tanzania outbreak in the Kagera region
- 2024: Rwanda outbreak with 66 confirmed cases and 15 deaths
- Importation Risk: low for non-African countries, but not zero due to international travel
Marburg is a high-consequence disease for which healthcare facilities must be prepared, which includes a plan for:
- Rapid identification/screening of at-risk individuals
- Transmission-based precautions
- Effective environmental disinfection
- Training, drills, readiness
- Facility planning, including triage zones, waste handling, and lab processes
APIC Resources and Tools
Click here to download the APIC Marburg Playbook
- Developed by the APIC Emerging Infectious Diseases Task Force to help infection preventionists rapidly activate Marburg prevention efforts
- The playbook is a concise workflow document that is designed to be user-friendly and operational for busy IPs.
Click here to access the APIC Text – Chapter 95: Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers
- Chapter 95 of the APIC Text provides comprehensive guidance for an infection preventionist on Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers, including Marburg
Additional External Resources
