Rwanda has launched a vaccination campaign against the Marburg virus. Starting on Sunday, in response to its first outbreak of the Ebola-like disease which has claimed 12 lives and resulted in 46 confirmed cases since late September, the ruling class healthcare workers with the vaccine.

This vaccination program was launched in response to an “emergency” outbreak of the hemorrhagic disease. People who have contracted the Marburg virus usually start getting sick 2-21 days after they are infected with the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States. Initial symptoms can include fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, a rash with both flat and raised bumps, often on the torso, chest pain, and a sore throat.

Rwanda has received 700 doses of the Marburg vaccine from the United States-based Sabin Vaccine Institute and is said to be pushing a vaccination campaign. Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana announced the launch of the vaccination program at a press conference in the capital, Kigali, according to a report by RT.  “The vaccination is starting today, immediately,” he said, emphasizing the focus on those “most at risk, most exposed healthcare workers working in treatment centers, in hospitals, in ICU, in emergency, but also the close contacts of the confirmed cases.”

The virus was first identified in 1967 following simultaneous outbreaks in laboratories in Marburg, Germany, and Belgrade, Serbia. The outbreak, linked to research on African green monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) imported from Uganda, resulted in 31 infections, with seven fatalities.

Marburg Will NOT Be The Next Pandemic But Should Be Monitored

The Marburg virus is highly infectious and causes a viral hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola. Past outbreaks have recorded fatality rates ranging from 24% to 88%, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Symptoms include high fever, severe headaches, vomiting, and diarrhea, with severe cases leading to death through extreme blood loss. The virus is typically transmitted to humans from fruit bats and spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals. -RT

Rwanda will only be administering the vaccine to those who are 18 years old or older and it has not been tested on children.