KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Marburg hemorrhagic fever has killed 11 people in Rwanda, health authorities said, as the East African country continues to investigate the source of an outbreak first traced among patients in health facilities.
There are 36 confirmed cases of the disease that manifests like Ebola, with 25 of them in isolation, according to the Rwandan government's latest update.
Rwanda declared the outbreak on Sept. 27 and reported six deaths a day later. Authorities said at the time that the first cases had been found among patients in health facilities and that an investigation was underway “to determine the origin of the infection.”
The source remains unclear days later, raising contagion fears in the small central African nation. Isolating patients and their contacts is key to stopping the spread of viral hemorrhagic fevers like Marburg.
The World Health Organization has warned that cases in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, pose a risk of international spread because the city has an international airport and is connected by road to other cities in East Africa.
Testifying to growing international concern about the outbreak, in Germany two people were isolated in the northern city of Hamburg after returning from Rwanda, where they had been in a medical facility with Marburg virus patients, said the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control in a statement on Thursday.
Both tested negative for the virus, the ECDC statement said.
German media reports said that concern about the virus led authorities to cordon off two tracks at a railway station where the two people had arrived. One was a young medical student who had felt symptoms of the disease and contacted doctors from the train.
In Rwanda, most of the affected people are healthcare workers across six out of 30 districts in Rwanda. Some patients live in districts bordering Congo, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania, according to the WHO.
At least 300 people who came into contact with those confirmed to have Marburg have been identified, and an unspecified number of them are now in isolation facilities, according to Rwandan health authorities.
Rwandans have been urged to avoid physical contact to help curb the spread. Strict measures include the suspension of school and hospital visits as well as a restriction on the number of those who can attend funerals for Marburg victims. Home vigils are not allowed in the event a death is linked to Marburg.
The U.S. Embassy in Rwanda’s capital of Kigali has urged its staff to work remotely and avoid visiting offices.
Like Ebola, the Marburg virus is believed to originate in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or with surfaces, such as contaminated bed sheets. Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of people who fall ill with the disease.
Symptoms include fever, muscle pains, diarrhea, vomiting and, in some cases, death through extreme blood loss. There is no authorized vaccine or treatment for Marburg.
Marburg outbreaks and individual cases have in the past been recorded in Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Ghana, according to the WHO.
The virus was first identified in 1967 after it caused simultaneous outbreaks of disease in laboratories in Marburg, Germany, and Belgrade, Serbia. Seven people died who were exposed to the virus while conducting research on monkeys.
Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2014 photo, a medical worker from the Infection Prevention and Control unit wearing full protective equipment carries a meal to an isolation tent housing a man being quarantined after coming into contact in Uganda with a carrier of the Marburg Virus, at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
LAN SAK, Thailand (AP) — At a Buddhist temple in central Thailand, Wichan Seubsaichan recalled his 9-year-old son as a well-mannered boy who loved school and sports, and enjoyed participating in many activities since he was a toddler.
The boy, Reutthawat, had been asking him for a new pair of soccer shoes.
On Thursday, Wichan laid a brand-new pair of shoes, a soccer ball, and colorful sporting t-shirts along with a tray of food and beverages on top of a silver and blue patterned coffin, in front of which stood a portrait of a beaming wide-eyed boy in a white tunic with a purple brocade sash running across his chest.
Reutthawat was one of 23 students and teachers from the town of Lan Sak in Uthai Thani province who died in a horrific bus fire while on a school field trip earlier this week. Funeral rites began on Thursday at the Buddhist temple compound in the students' hometown that also housed their school, and their royal-sponsored cremation will be held next week.
Among the mourners attending the ceremony, marked by the chanting of prayers by Buddhist monks, was Surayud Chulanont, former prime minister and head of King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s Privy Council, who presented a wreath on behalf of the monarch.
The tragedy has prompted outrage and sadness across Thailand over the lack of enforcement of vehicular and road safety standards that contributes to thousands of deaths each year.
Thailand is infamous for having one of the highest rates of traffic fatalities in the world. More than 2,600 children aged 10-19 are killed every year in road crashes, according to the Ministry of Public Health.
Six teachers and 39 elementary and junior high school students were on the bus that caught fire Tuesday on a highway in suburban Bangkok. It spread so quickly that only 22 passengers were able to escape. Three girls remain hospitalized, one with serious burns on her face who risks losing her sight.
Wichan said when he heard news of the accident, he immediately made the six-hour drive back to his hometown from northern Phrae province, where he works as a driver. Reutthawat was not listed as being on the bus that caught fire, and that gave him hope.
“Yesterday, I was told that he had not been identified, so I was still hopeful that my son survived,” he said haltingly before bursting into tears. He learned the truth after having traveled onward to Bangkok where relatives of the victims gave DNA samples to help identify the badly burned bodies.
It was a double tragedy for Wichan, who lost not only his son, but also his own 8-year-old half-brother Natthapong Chamkrasae, who had never traveled far from home before.
Police are investigating whether the fire was caused by negligence have already filed initial charges against the bus driver, including reckless driving and failing to stop to help others.
The driver claimed a front tire had malfunctioned, making the bus bump into a car before skidding along a concrete highway barrier. Sparks from the friction might have set off highly flammable natural gas canisters that fueled the bus, police said.
The bus had 11 gas canisters installed, but a permit to hold only six, according to police. Many Thai vehicles run on compressed natural gas to save money. The bus, which was more than 50 years old, had been modified to run on CNG, said the Department of Land Transport.
“I can’t stress enough about the safety of vehicles,” Wichan said with a firm voice, his eyes red and brimming with tears. “I want them to stop using all natural gas-fueled vehicles … They’re cost-effective for the operators, but they’re not safe at all.”
Oy Kaewprasert, who was also working in another province when her 6-year-old son Theerapong Pienkasiwit perished, described him as a cheerful boy who loved to travel, and who was becoming adept at reading Thai, his favorite subject.
Speaking at the temple with tears rolling down her face, she called for better safety inspections of vehicles. “They shouldn’t be negligent like this,” she said.
The bus company owner has insisted that he followed safety regulations. While he has not been charged, the police have said they are seeking negligence charges against all responsible, and his company’s operating license has been suspended.
The Department of Land Transport is implementing urgent inspections of all natural gas-fueled buses. The department will also upgrade its safety guidelines to require crisis management training for drivers and safety inspections when such vehicles are to be used by schools, said Seksom Akraphand, the agency’s deputy director-general.
On social media, parents have expressed apprehension about sending their children on school field trips, and some even called for such activities to be canceled altogether.
Despite the tragedy he has suffered, Wichan feels otherwise.
“Both my son and my brother died. My brother had never had a chance to go anywhere. This was the first time, and he died,” he said. “For children that do not have an opportunity, to be able to travel for just one time to learn things, it is a very valuable experience for them.”
A relative looks at the coffin of a victim of school bus fire at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School, Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A newly purchased football is kept near the coffin of one of the victims of the school bus fire by father Wichan Seubsaichan, at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School, Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Father, Wichan Seubsaichan, left and grandmother Noklek Seekham of one of the victims of the school bus fire talk during an interview with the Associated Press at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School, Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Wichan Seubsaichan, father of one of the victims of the school bus fire cries during an interview with the Associated Press at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School, Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Oy Kaewprasert, mother of one of the victims of the school bus fire cries during an interview with the Associated Press at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School, Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A relative of a victim of school bus fire cries at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School, Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Relatives mourn nears the coffins of victims of school bus fire at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School, Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A relative wails near the coffin of a victim of school bus fire at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School, Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A relative of a victim of school bus fire cries at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School, Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Relatives of the bus fire victims view their portraits at the Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A relative of the bus fire victims walks in front of their coffins at the Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak , Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Portraits of the bus fire victims are placed in front of their coffins at the Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A grieving family member cries during the coffin procession for victims of a bus fire at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak , Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Relatives of victims in a bus fire carry portraits of the deceased in a procession at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak , Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Victims' relatives carry portraits of the victims of a bus fire in a procession at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Relatives of the bus fire victims pray at their coffins at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A monk leads a coffin procession containing the body of a victim of a bus fire as they arrive at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak , Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Victims' relatives carry portraits of the victims of a bus fire in a procession at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Officers carry a coffin of a bus fire victim as they arrive at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak, Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Victims' relatives carry portraits of the victims of a bus fire in a procession at Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam School Lan Sak , Uthai Thani province, Thailand, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
