U.S. Warns Against Travel to Rwanda Because of Marburg Virus Outbreak

The U.S. State Department is telling Americans to reconsider travel to Rwanda because of an outbreak of Marburg in the country.

Rwanda, which was already a high-caution country for the State Department due to armed violence at the Rwanda-Burundi border, reported confirmed cases of Marburg Virus at the end of September. Aside from warning travelers, the State Department is also stopping all non-essential official travel to Rwanda.

The disease is often fatal in humans—the World Health Organization (WHO) says that the fatality rate is around 50%—and it has no specific treatment or cure. According to Rwanda’s Ministry of Health, the virus is transmitted by body fluids of people who are visibly sick and is currently not believed to be transmitted by air.

The symptoms are high fever, headaches, vomiting, muscle aches, and stomach aches.

Airport screenings

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is screening passengers at three U.S. airports for the virus after it raised its own travel warning for Rwanda in late September.

Passengers who have been in Rwanda in the last three weeks before traveling to the U.S. are being re-routed to Chicago O’Hare (ORD), JFK International in New York (JFK), or Washington Dulles International (IAD) for more screening.

The CDC is still saying that the risk of Marburg in the United States is low.