The number of people quarantined in Tanzania due to the Marburg virus has increased from 193 to 205.
Those quarantined – all in Kegera region - are being closely monitored for symptoms of the deadly virus after they came into contact with infected people, according to Tanzania’s health minister Ummy Mwalimu.
Visiting the region, Mwalimu told journalists that health professionals would continue to monitor those quarantined for at least 21 days – the incubation period of the virus.
She said the number of Marburg cases has not increased. The authorities had announced that at least eight cases of the hemorrhagic disease including five deaths had been confirmed in the East African country.
The minister advised people to take precautionary measures including frequently washing their hands, using sanitizer and avoiding handshakes.
Mwalilmu said the authorities were planning to deploy 1, 322 newly employed ad hoc health workers to educate residents of the region on how to prevent themselves from contracting the Marburg virus.
Facilities were also being provided to intensify temperature testing and handwashing in public places including bus stations.
The Tanzanian authorities and the World Health Organisation have been working to contain the disease while East African countries say they are on high alert.
