Two passengers suspected of having the deadly Marburg virus have forced the closure of a major German station amid fears the highly infectious Ebola-like disease has reached Europe.
Police cordoned off tracks seven and eight for several hours at Hamburg Station and travellers were cleared from platforms after emergency services in full protective suits boarded the ICE from Frankfurt.
Local reports have stated that two passengers on board have apparently been infected with the deadly ‘eye-bleeding’ virus.
One of the passengers is a man said to be a German medical student, 26, who boarded the ICE train to Hamburg with his girlfriend on Wednesday afternoon in Frankfurt.
During the train ride, both developed flu-like symptoms.
According to Bild, the student had previously arrived by plane directly from Rwanda where he had contact with a patient who doctors later diagnosed as being infected with the Marburg virus.
Police cordoned off tracks seven and eight for several hours at Hamburg Station and travellers were cleared from platforms after emergency services in full protective suits boarded the ICE from Frankfurt
Marburg virus, a relative of Ebola, causes people to bleed from their orifices and kills up to 9 in 10 of those infected.
MVD has a mortality rate of up to 88 percent. There are currently no vaccines or treatments approved to treat the virus
Colorized scanning electron micrograph of Marburg virus particles
The UK Government has issued warnings about an untreatable Ebola-like virus – which kills up to nine in 10 people it infects – that is currently spreading in Africa.
Marburg, one of the deadliest pathogens ever discovered, has already killed 10 people in Rwanda, with around 300 people being monitored for suspected infection.
In a statement, UK health chiefs demanded that businesses provide extra monitoring of employees visiting the African nation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously described the situation as of ‘great concern’, adding there is high risk of the outbreak spreading to other African countries.
Last year, an outbreak of the virus – which causes sufferers to bleed from the eyes – took hold in nearby Tanzania.
Sickness caused by Marburg virus starts very suddenly, with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise.
Muscle aches and pains are a also common symptoms of the virus. Severe diarrhoea, abdominal pain and cramping, nausea and vomiting can usually on the third day. Diarrhoea can carry on for a week.
There are currently no vaccines or treatments available meaning medics instead focus on helping patients survive the infection.
This often puts health workers at direct risk with the virus being passed on through infected bodily fluids.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
