Stopping a Marburg virus outbreak is hard enough. Preventing the next one is even tougher.
Keeping in mind all these challenges, the best strategy to test potential vaccines would follow a technique used during the eradication of smallpox, called ring vaccination. The process involves identifying a “ring” of close contacts to a positive case, then vaccinating them as well as their close contacts, just to be safe.
If it isn’t clear, both of these strategies require an immense amount of health-care staff, time, and money. As Cross put it, “These kinds of trials would really only be possible where adequate funding to support stockpiling of clinical-grade material is possible—a point that has been a continual challenge” for emerging pathogens like Marburg.
Some of this work is already being undertaken. In 2020, for instance, researchers in the U.S. and Sierra Leonecarrying the virus in four different districts in Sierra Leone. While there has not yet been an outbreak of Marburg virus in the country, its neighbor to the north—Guinea—declared an outbreak the next year. To Cross, this represented a success of public health surveillance.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why Stephen King Doesn't Write Sequels (& Why He Still Has)Stephen King has avoided writing sequels to most of his works, and he has a good reason for that, though he has still written a couple of follow-ups.
Read more »
Life-Threatening Health Issues Not Stopping Bobby LabonteIn a recent three-year period, the 2000 NASCAR Cup champion and Texas native has battled kidney cancer, lung issues and a ruptured appendix.
Read more »
Life-Threatening Health Issues Not Stopping Bobby LabonteIn a recent three-year period, the 2000 NASCAR Cup champion and Texas native has battled kidney cancer, lung issues and a ruptured appendix.
Read more »
Paris Protests and Israel Unrest Aren’t Stopping TravelersCivil unrest frequently affects travel plans. But the difference now is that many are unwilling to cancel plans after a few years of pandemic-limited travel.
Read more »
Why this Utah office targets family-friendly policiesJust months after Gov. Spencer Cox's new Office of Families began operating, the state has made several efforts aimed at helping families.
Read more »