Marburg virus disease in sub-saharan Africa: Contemporary epidemiologyand future trends

There is a recurrent rate of filoviral epidemics, includingMarburg virus disease and its concomitant high mortalityin recent times. Thus, the need for prompt control of theiroutbreaks have never been greater, especially in sub-SaharanAfrica. Given the severe economic and social catastropheof the COVID-19 pandemic, the world needs to mitigate arecurrence by stemming outbreaks of high-risk pathogenswith pandemic propensities like the Marburg virus.Therefore, we deployed a rapid systematic review of relevantsecondary sources on Marburg Virus Disease, tracing itshistorical epidemiology and exposing its current situation insub-Saharan Africa. We found an average case fatality ratioof 23 to 90% between 2004 and 2024. Hence, we arguethat the mortalities ascribed to Marburg Virus Disease arecomparable to Ebola. Thus, this piece reemphasizes theneed to focus on community education and engagementand intensify the world’s focus on discovering vaccinesagainst Marburg Virus Disease, like Ebola and COVID-19.