Marburg Virus

The latest outbreak of Marburg virus disease (MVD) in Africa continues to cause a significant case fatality rate. Since the initial Marburg outbreak in Germany in 1967, there have been eighteen outbreaks of MVD that have previously been reported globally.

Since the declaration of the MVD outbreak on January 20, 2025, the United Republic of Tanzania's Ministry of Health has confirmed all ten 10 patients in the Kagera Region's Biharamulo and Muleba districts have died as of February 14, 2025.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), all 281 listed contacts have completed 21 days of follow-up.

The WHO has assessed the risk of this MVD outbreak as high at the national level; the regional risk is considered high due to Kagera's strategic location as a transit hub, with significant cross-border movement of the population to Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Furthermore, the WHO says the global risk is currently low.

The WHO wrote, 'Based on the current risk assessment, WHO advises against travel and trade restrictions with Tanzania.'

However, MVD screening of travelers departing from the Kagera Region continues at key entry and exit points, including the Bukoba Airport.

To alert international travelers of this health risk, the U.S. CDC issued Watch—Level 1 Travel Health Advisories on January 23, 2025, and March 27, 2023. These Advisories stated that Tanzania had confirmed an MVD outbreak and that visitors to these areas should practice usual precautions.

The WHO says MVD is a highly virulent disease that can cause severe disease and is clinically similar to Ebola disease. It spreads between people via direct contact with infected people, such as the blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids, and surfaces and materials contaminated with these fluids.

From a prevention perspective, Marburg vaccine candidates continue conducting research in Rwanda and other countries, but none have been approved for human use in 2025.

Sub Title:

Marburg vaccine candidates are conducting clinical trials in 2025

Reference:

WHO DON 554

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WHO DON 544 Map for MVD Outbreak in Tanzania Feb. 2025

$3 Million Supports Confirmed Marburg Virus Outbreak in Africa

Karen McClorey Hackett — Mon, 20 Jan 2025 15:45:49 +0000

Reviewer:

WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on outbreak of Marburg virus disease – 20 January 2025

The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed an outbreak of Marburg virus disease (MVD) in the northwestern Kagera region, in Biharamulo district.

The President of the Republic of Tanzania, Her Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan, announced during a press briefing on January 20, 2025, after one suspected case tested positive for the virus.

"Laboratory tests conducted at Kabaile Mobile Laboratory in Kagera and later confirmed in Dar es Salaam identified one patient as infected with the Marburg virus. Fortunately, the remaining suspected patients tested negative," the president says. "We have demonstrated our ability to contain similar (MVD) outbreaks and are determined to do the same this time."

A total of 25 suspected cases have been reported and are currently under close follow-up, the president added.

As of early January 2025, eight MVD-related fatalities had been reported.

Marburg virus disease is highly virulent and causes hemorrhagic fever. It belongs to the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease. Illness caused by the Marburg virus begins abruptly. Patients present with high fever, severe headache, and severe malaise. They may develop severe hemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.

"The declaration by the president and the measures being taken by the government are crucial in addressing the threat of this disease at the local and national levels as well as preventing potential cross-border spread," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. "Our priority is to support the government to rapidly scale up measures to effectively respond to this outbreak and safeguard the health of the population,"

Tanzania previously reported its initial MVD outbreak in March 2023, in which six fatalities were reported, with a case-fatality ratio of 67%.

Since 1967, MVD outbreaks have been confirmed in various countries. Previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in the African region of Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda.

The WHO says the Marburg virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces, and materials.

On January 20, 2025, the WHO confirmed it would release $3 million from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies to support Tanzania's response. This is in addition to the $50,000 contributed earlier to support the initial investigation.

Considering the low global risk and the strong capabilities of the Tanzanian government, the WHO advises against restrictions on trade and travel to the country. As her Excellency said, Tanzania is open for business.

As of January 20, 2025, the U.S. CDC's Level 1 - Practice Usual Precautions, Travel Health Advisory, alerts international travelers of this health risk.

Furthermore, the CDC confirmed no Marburg vaccines were approved, but candidates are conducting clinical trials.

In October 2024, the Sabin Vaccine Institute announced it provided 700 MVD vaccine candidates (PHV01) to the Republic of Rwanda to support the ongoing disease outbreak response.

Sub Title:

Tanzania confirms Marburg virus disease case

References:

Outbreak of suspected Marburg Virus Disease - United Republic of Tanzania

Tanzania confirms outbreak of Marburg virus disease

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700 Marburg Vaccine Candidates Heading to Rwanda

Karen McClorey Hackett — Sat, 05 Oct 2024 21:55:31 +0000

Reviewer:

The Sabin Vaccine Institute announced it has provided 700 of its Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) vaccine candidates (PHV01) to the Republic of Rwanda to support the ongoing disease outbreak response.

As of October 5, 2024, the initial vaccine shipment will be used in a trial targeting frontline workers in Rwanda, including healthcare professionals.

Pending a request from Rwandan officials and authorization from others, Sabin plans to supply additional vaccines.

Sabin has agreed with the Rwanda Biomedical Centre to provide these investigational doses for the Phase 2 rapid response open-label study. Per the approved protocol, adults will be dosed at six clinical trial sites in Rwanda.

Sabin's single-dose vaccine is based on the cAd3 platform and is conducting Phase 2 trials in Uganda and Kenya with no reported safety concerns.

Results from earlier Phase 1 clinical trials and nonclinical studies indicate that PHV01 is safe and elicits rapid, robust immune responses.

Rwanda declared its first MVD outbreak on September 27, 2024, and as of October 5, 2024, it had infected 46 people and claimed 12 lives. While most cases are among health workers in two facilities in Kigali, the capital, a smaller number are spread across a few other districts.

As of October 5, 2024, there is no approved vaccine available. While Sabin's vaccine is the first to be deployed in Rwanda, other Marburg vaccine candidates are accelerating clinical studies, such as the following:

Soligenix, Inc. MarVax™ is a subunit protein vaccine.

Researchers at the University of Oxford are developing the ChAdOx1 Marburg vaccine candidate.

IAVI's single-dose rVSVΔG-MARV-GP vaccine candidate against Marburg virus.

Marburg virus disease is a member of the Filoviridae family of viruses and is a severe but rare viral disease that has infected humans since 1967.

Sub Title:

Sabin Marburg vaccine is based on the cAd3 platform

Reference:

Sabin Vaccine Oct. 2024

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Sabin Vaccine Institute Marburg vaccine Oct. 2024

Africa's Marburg Disease Outbreaks Explained

Karen McClorey Hackett — Mon, 08 May 2023 15:18:58 +0000

Reviewer:

MVD - Equatorial Guinea and the United Republic of Tanzania

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced how two African countries have been responding to separate outbreaks of Marburg virus disease (MVD) in 2023.

Initially detected in 1967, MVD is a viral hemorrhagic fever, and infections are often fatal.

In March 2023, the WHO assessed the public health risk posed by the MVD outbreaks in Equatorial Guinea and the United Republic of Tanzania as very high at the national level, high at the sub-regional level, moderate at the regional, and low at the global level.

Additionally, the U.S. CDC recently issued travel advisories for these MVD outbreaks.

In Equatorial Guinea, from February 13 to May 1, 2023, 17 laboratory-confirmed MVD cases and 23 probable cases have been reported. The last confirmed case was reported on April 20. Among the laboratory-confirmed cases, there were 12 deaths (Case Fatality Ratio (CFR) 75%).

For one confirmed case, the outcome is unknown. Among the confirmed cases, four have recovered. However, all of the probable cases are dead.

The most affected district is Bata in Litoral province, with 11 laboratory-confirmed MVD cases reported.

And in the United Republic of Tanzania, between March 16 to April 30, 2023, a cumulative total of nine cases, including eight laboratory-confirmed cases and one probable case, have been reported.

The last confirmed case was reported on April 11, 2023. A total of six deaths (CFR 66.7%) have been reported, including one probable case and five among confirmed cases.

Among the confirmed cases, three have recovered. All cases have been reported from Bukoba district, Kagera region.

The WHO says health authorities in both countries have shown strong political commitment.

In recent weeks they have further strengthened critical response functions, such as disease surveillance, including at points of entry; laboratory activities; clinical case management; infection prevention and control; risk communication and community engagement; and operations support and logistics with the backing of WHO and partners.

As of May 8, 2023, no MVD cases have been reported in the U.S., no MVD vaccines are available, and other Marburg outbreak news is posted at Vax-Before-Travel.

Sub Title:

Marburg disease vaccines are not authorized in May 2023

References:

U.S. CDC Marburg virus disease May 2023

ECDC Factsheet about Marburg virus disease

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Equatorial Guinea's Marburg Disease Fatalities Increase

Donald Hackett — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 17:47:47 +0000

Reviewer:

WHO Marburg virus disease - April 15, 2023

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced Equatorial Guinea (EG) continues facing an outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) for the first time.

And as of April 15, 2023, the country's capacity to manage the outbreak must be strengthened.

In addition to the nine confirmed cases reported in the WHO's Disease Outbreak News of March 22, 2023, six more individuals tested positive for MVD, with one more affected EG province.

And the presence of cases and/or clusters across multiple districts without clear epidemiologic links may indicate undetected virus transmission.

The presence of confirmed cases in the capital city of Bata increases the risk of disease spread, as it is the most populated city with an international airport and port.

Furthermore, surveillance at the entry points of the international Bata airport or international seaport is not optimal.

Bata has also reported the highest number of confirmed cases and confirmed deaths.

Frequent population movements and porous land borders are also reported in EG districts bordering Cameroon and Gabon.

The surveillance at land entry points is suboptimal, and countless uncontrolled paths or trails along the border with Cameroon and Gabon.

Considering the above-described situation, WHO continues to assess the risk posed by this MVD outbreak as very high at the national level, high at the sub-regional level, moderate at the regional level, and low at the global level.

The U.S. CDC has issued travel alerts regarding MVD outbreaks in Africa to notify international travelers of their health risks. Other Marburg disease outbreak news is posted at Vax-Before-Travel.

Unfortunately, no Marburg vaccines are available as of April 15, 2023.

Sub Title:

Marburg virus disease vaccine candidates continue research

References:

U.S. CDC travel alerts

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WHO Marburg Disease alert April 15, 2023

Fatal Marburg Disease Outbreak Confirmed in Tanzania

Karen McClorey Hackett — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 20:38:46 +0000

Reviewer:

Tanzania confirms first-ever outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced the Republic of Tanzania had confirmed its first-ever cases of Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) following reports of cases and deaths in the country’s north-west Kagera region.

Five of the eight cases, including a health worker, have died, and the remaining three are receiving treatment.

A total of 161 contacts have been identified and are being monitored as of March 21, 2023.

According to Tanzania health officials on YouTube, Tanzania’s National Public Health Laboratory analyzed samples to determine the cause of illness.

“The efforts by Tanzania’s health authorities to establish the cause of the disease clearly indicate the determination to respond to the outbreak effectively. We are working with the government to rapidly scale up control measures to halt the spread of the virus and end the outbreak as soon as possible,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, in a related press release.

WHO is supporting the Ministry of Health in deploying an emergency team to Kagera for further epidemiological investigations.

The emergency team will focus on active case finding in the community and local healthcare facilities to identify more contacts and provide them with appropriate care.

Previously, MVD cases were reported in Angola, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Germany (1967), Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Serbia, South Africa, and Uganda.

Equatorial Guinea confirmed an outbreak on February 13, 2023, its first-ever outbreak of MVD. The index case died in early January 2023. As of February 27, 2023, the cumulative number of MVD cases reported was 11, all fatal, and 48 close contacts were under follow-up.

MVD is highly virulent and causes hemorrhagic fever, with a fatality ratio of up to 88%, says the WHO.

Illness caused by the Marburg virus begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache, and severe malaise. Many patients develop severe hemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.

The virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces, and materials.

It is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease.

Currently, no MVD vaccines or antiviral treatments are approved to treat the virus.

Tanzania is an East African country formed as a sovereign state in 1964 through the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, says Britannica.

To notify international travelers of potential health risks, the U.S. CDC issued a Watch - Level 1, Practice Usual Precaution regarding active MVD outbreaks in Africa on February 16, 2023.

Sub Title:

Tanzania confirms its first Marburg disease outbreak

References:

Marburg outbreaks March 2023

Marburg vaccine candidates March 2023

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U.S. CDC Africa Marburg Virus Outbreak March 21, 2023

$30 Million Funding Advances Marburg and Sudan Virus Vaccines

Karen McClorey Hackett — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 18:03:12 +0000

Reviewer:

U.S. BARDA Expand Partnership to Advance IAVI's Filovirus Vaccine Candidates

IAVI announced today that the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) funded additional development and testing of single-dose vaccine candidates against the filoviruses Marburg virus (MARV) and Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV).

BARDA's US$30 million award to the nonprofit IAVI on March 2, 2023, expands the agency's existing support of SUDV vaccine candidate (rVSVΔG-SUDV-GP) development.

The new BARDA funding empowers IAVI and partners to advance the rVSVΔG-SUDV-GP development plan to include a Phase I clinical trial in the United States in 2023.

This funding is in addition to the initial award of $17 million in 2022 to advance IAVI's MARV vaccine candidate (rVSVΔG-MARV-GP) into human clinical trials.

These plans are enhanced following recent preclinical data demonstrating that a single dose of the vaccine was 100% efficacious at preventing Marburg virus disease (MVD) in nonhuman primates.

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense funded the nonclinical development of rVSVΔG-MARV-GP.

"Ongoing intermittent viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks, including the recent SUDV and current MARV outbreaks, demonstrate the importance of developing and stockpiling vaccines against known threats so they are ready for rapid evaluation in clinical trials," said Swati Gupta, vice president and head of emerging infectious diseases and epidemiology at IAVI, in a press release on March 2, 2023.

"The funding from BARDA will enable us to continue critical development and testing of IAVI's filovirus vaccine candidates to facilitate better preparedness."

"It is essential that we efficiently accelerate our vaccine development efforts for known infectious disease threats now and apply our lessons learned from the past, such that we are truly better prepared when outbreaks continue to occur in the future."

Previously, Filoviruses have caused severe hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in Central and Western Africa during 2022 and 2023.

IAVI's filovirus vaccine candidates are based on the same recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) vector used in ERVEBO®, a highly efficacious Ebola Zaire (ZEBOV) vaccine previously deployed by several African countries during Ebola virus outbreaks.

MARV is associated with sporadic African outbreaks and has a case fatality rate of up to 88%.

For example, Equatorial Guinea confirmed its first MARV outbreak in 2023, while Ghana and Guinea confirmed outbreaks in 2022 and 2021, respectively.

And in response to Uganda's SUDV outbreak in late 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine prioritization working group assembled to rapidly evaluate the suitability of three candidate Ebola vaccines for inclusion in a planned ring vaccination trial in Uganda.

The WHO group ranked IAVI's rVSVΔG-SUDV-GP candidate the highest based on the proven safety and efficacy of ERVEBO®.

Vaccines against SUDV and MARV remain critical unmet needs because immunity against ZEBOV, SUDV, and MARV is not cross-protective.

This project is funded in whole or in part with federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, under contract number 75A50121C00077.

IAVI is a nonprofit scientific research organization that addresses urgent, unmet global health challenges, including HIV, tuberculosis, and emerging infectious diseases. Read more at iavi.org.

Sub Title:

Marburg and Sudan vaccine candidates gain funding

References:

IAVI and the BARDA partner to advance filovirus vaccine candidates

BARDA

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IAVI’s Brooklyn-based Vaccine Design & Development Lab 2023

Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak Confirmed in Equatorial Guinea

Donald Hackett — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 21:16:30 +0000

Reviewer:

WHO: Equatorial Guinea confirms first-ever MVD outbreak

Equatorial Guinea confirmed its first-ever Marburg virus disease (MVD) outbreak today. This highly infectious virus causes hemorrhagic fever, with a fatality ratio of up to 88%.

MVD is in the same virus family that causes Ebola virus disease.

Preliminary tests carried out following the deaths of at least nine people in the country's western Kie Ntem Province turned out positive for MVD, wrote the World Health Organization (WHO) on February 13, 2023.

So far, nine deaths and 16 suspected cases with symptoms including fever, fatigue, blood-stained vomit, and diarrhea have been reported.

Advance teams have been deployed in the affected districts to trace contacts, isolate and provide medical care to people showing disease symptoms.

Efforts are also underway to rapidly mount an emergency response, with WHO deploying health emergency experts in epidemiology, case management, infection prevention, laboratory, and risk communication to support the national response efforts and secure community collaboration in outbreak control.

The WHO is also facilitating the shipment of laboratory glove tents for sample testing and one viral hemorrhagic fever kit that includes personal protective equipment that 500 health workers can use.

"Thanks to the rapid and decisive action by the Equatorial Guinean authorities in confirming the disease, emergency response can get to full steam quickly so that we save lives and halt the virus as soon as possible," commented Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, in a related press release.

The virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces, and materials.

As of February 13, 2023, no vaccines or antiviral treatments have been U.S. FDA-approved to treat this severe virus.

However, several vaccine candidates are being evaluated, such as the Sabin Vaccine Institute's ChAd3-MARV and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases phase 1 study.

Additionally, the U.S. CDC recommends several vaccinations before visiting Equatorial Guinea.

Sub Title:

Equatorial Guinea reported viral hemorrhagic fever fatalities in 2023

References:

Marburg vaccine candidates 2023

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First-in-Human Marburg Vaccine Study Shows Promise

Donald Hackett — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 21:15:50 +0000

Reviewer:

Safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of the chimpanzee adenovirus type 3-vectored Marburg virus (cAd3-Marburg) vaccine

The peer-review journal Lancet recently published a study that found a vaccine candidate targeting the Marburg virus (MARV) was safe and induced an immune response in a small, first-in-human clinical trial.

The vaccine known as cAd3-Marburg vaccine, developed by researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), could become an essential tool if approved to respond to future Marburg virus outbreaks.

This vaccine uses a modified chimpanzee adenovirus called cAd3, which can no longer replicate or infect cells.

Instead, it displays a glycoprotein found on the surface of MARV to induce immune responses against the virus.

The cAd3 vaccine platform demonstrated a good safety profile in prior clinical trials when used in Ebola virus and investigational Sudan virus vaccines.

This study enrolled 40 healthy adult volunteers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Clinical Trials Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. They received a single dose of either a low dose of the vaccine (1x1010 particle units) or a higher dose (1x1011 particle units).

For safety, the volunteers were enrolled in a dose-escalation plan. First, three participants received the lower dose.

Then, when they did not exhibit severe adverse reactions after the first seven days, the trial enrolled the remaining 17 volunteers.

The same procedure was also used for the higher-dose group.

Volunteers were monitored for adverse reactions to the investigational vaccine and evaluated at regular intervals for 48 weeks to track their immune responses.

The trial’s safety results were encouraging, as there were no serious adverse events, and the experimental vaccine was well-tolerated.

One higher-dose group participant developed a fever following vaccination, which resolved by the following day.

In addition, the investigational vaccine appeared to induce strong, long-lasting immunity to the MARV glycoprotein: 95% of participants in the trial exhibited a robust antibody response after vaccination, and 70% maintained that response for more than 48 weeks.

There are plans to conduct clinical trials for the cAd3-Marburg vaccine in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and the U.S.

MARV, a filovirus in the same family as the Ebola virus, causes a rapidly progressive febrile illness that leads to shock and death in many infected individuals, says the U.S. CDC.

Marburg virus was first recognized in 1967 when hemorrhagic fever outbreaks co-occurred in laboratories in Germany and Serbia.

MVD is caused by the MARV, a genetically unique zoonotic RNA virus of the filovirus family.

In areas of Africa where a vaccine for Marburg is most needed, a single-dose vaccine that could protect recipients over a long period would be a crucial part of quelling outbreaks.

As of January 30, 2023, no vaccines or specific therapies are U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for MARV disease.

The NIAID conducts and supports research throughout the U.S. and worldwide to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing, and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets, and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID website.

Sub Title:

cAd3-Marburg vaccine candidate at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Clinical Trials Center

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Marburg vaccine candidates 2023

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U.S. CDC Marburg virus disease outbreaks 2023

$214 Million Allocated for Ebola Sudan and Marburg Vaccines

Donald Hackett — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 21:09:33 +0000

Reviewer:

Sabin Vaccine Institute Receives $35 Million from BARDA

The Sabin Vaccine Institute today announced that the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) had awarded it a multi-year contract with funding potential for up to $214 million to advance the development and production of Ebola Sudan and Marburg virus diseases vaccines.

As of January 12, 2023, no licensed vaccines against Ebola Sudan and Marburg viruses exist.

However, if approved, these vaccines could be used as part of ongoing U.S. preparedness efforts and in response to future global outbreaks.

The new contract leverages a partnership with BARDA that began in 2019 when the agency awarded Sabin another multi-year contract valued at $128 million to further the development of Marburg and Ebola Sudan vaccines.

BARDA will initially invest approximately $35 million to produce up to 100,000 doses of Sabin’s Ebola Sudan virus (ChAd3-SUDV) vaccine.

The ChAd3-SUDV vaccine was the first to arrive in the Republic of Uganda during the recent Ebola Sudan virus outbreak, which ended on January 11, 2023.

The recent Sudan Ebolavirus (SUDV) outbreak in Uganda, the fifth overall, was declared on September 20, 2022. Since the outbreak declaration, there were 55 confirmed deaths, a case-fatality ratio of 47%.

The World Health Organization included ChAd3-SUDV as one of three vaccine candidates being tested in human clinical trials in Uganda.

And Sabin has initiated Phase 2 clinical trial planning in Uganda and Kenya.

Based on previous non-human clinical trials, Sabin’s Ebola Sudan vaccine was found safe and immunogenic.

“Sabin successfully delivered Ebola Sudan vaccine doses to Uganda within 79 days of the start of the outbreak – quite an impressive accomplishment,” says Sabin Chief Executive Officer Amy Finan in a related press release.

“This new contract enables Sabin to produce up to 100,000 doses, so the world is prepared for future outbreaks.”

Separate from the Sabin initiative, other SUDV vaccine candidates continue to be developed.

In addition, the BARDA contract also includes support to manufacture Sabin’s vaccine against the Marburg virus (ChAd3-MARV), which could be used in clinical trials and response to a possible Marburg virus outbreak.

As recently as last July 2022, two people in Ghana died after being infected with the Marburg virus, reinforcing the urgent need for a vaccine.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recently confirmed Marburg virus disease (MVD), formerly known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever, is a severe disease in humans caused by Marburg marburgvirus (MARV).

In 1967, two outbreaks co-occurred in Marburg, Germany, and Belgrade, Serbia, among laboratory workers working with tissues of African green monkeys imported from Uganda and medical personnel who cared for the laboratory workers.

Nine people of the 37 cases died, with some spreading through household or nosocomial contact.

To date, all recorded MVD outbreaks have originated in Africa.

Nearly 600 Marburg cases have been reported in outbreaks in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Angola.

The MVD outbreak in Durba, DRC (1998–2000) occurred among gold miners, with a case fatality rate of 83%, reported the ECDC.

Although MVD is uncommon, MARV can potentially cause epidemics with significant case fatality rates.

MVD is not an airborne disease and is considered not contagious before symptoms appear.

Direct contact with the blood and other body fluids of infected people and animals or indirect contact with contaminated surfaces and materials like clothing, bedding, and medical equipment is required for MARV transmission.

This vaccine development project will be funded with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, under contract number 75A50123C00010. BARDA, part of the HHS’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, is based in Washington, DC.

In addition to Ebola and Marburg concerns, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued travel alerts for various disease outbreaks in Uganda, such as polio, measles, and yellow fever.

Sub Title:

U.S. BARDA awarded Sabin Vaccine Institute multi-year Ebola Sudan and Marburg vaccine development contract

References:

ECDC Marburg virus disease factsheet 2023

WHO African Sudan ebolavirus vaccines 2022

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Monoclonal Antibody Combo Reduces Marburg Disease Risk

Don Hackett — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 22:49:24 +0000

Reviewer:

Combination therapy protects macaques against advanced Marburg virus disease

A recent study conducted at the Galveston National Laboratory at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) has shown a significant benefit to combining monoclonal antibodies and the antiviral remdesivir (Veklury) against advanced Marburg virus.

Marburg hemorrhagic fever is a severe and highly fatal disease caused by a virus from the same family that causes Ebola, says the World Health Organization (WHO).

In this study published in the journal Nature on March 25, 2021, using a rhesus model, treatment with monoclonal antibodies began six days post-infection, a critical point in disease progression.

The combination therapy with the antiviral remdesivir showed an 80% protection rate, indicating promise for the treatment of advanced Marburg infections.

"Marburg is a highly virulent disease in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola. In Africa, patients often arrive at a physician very ill. It was important to test whether a combination of therapies would work better with really sick people,” stated Tom Geisbert, a professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at UTMB and the principal investigator for the study, in a press release issued on March 25, 2021.

"Our data suggests that this particular combination allowed for recovery when given at a very late stage of the disease."

The Marburg virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through human-to-human transmission. The average Marburg case fatality rates have varied from 24% to 88% in past outbreaks depending on virus strain and case management, says the WHO.

Two large outbreaks that occurred simultaneously in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany, and in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1967, led to the initial recognition of the disease.

The outbreak was associated with laboratory work using African green monkeys imported from Uganda. Subsequently, outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda.

In 2008, two independent cases were reported in travelers who had visited a cave inhabited by Rousettus bat colonies in Uganda.

No local Marburg cases have been confirmed in the USA.

Dr. Zachary A. Bornholdt, Senior Director of Antibody Discovery and Research for Mapp Biopharmaceutical and a co-author on the study, said, "Often small molecules and antibodies are positioned to compete with each other for a single therapeutic indication.”

“Here we see the benefit of pursuing both treatment strategies in tandem and ultimately finding synergy upon combining both approaches."

Geisbert, Bornholdt, and a large team at UTMB, Mapp Biopharmaceuticals, and Gilead Sciences have been developing monoclonal antibody (mAbs) therapies to treat hazardous viruses like Marburg and Ebola for several years.

The mAbs treatments have proven to be highly effective in laboratory studies and emergency use, mainly when delivered early in the disease course.

Gilead's Veklury has demonstrated in vitro and in vivo activity in animal models against the viral pathogens MERS and SARS-1, which are also beta coronaviruses, and are structurally similar to SARS-CoV-2, that causes COVID-19 in humans.

On October 22, 2020, Gilead announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved Veklury (remdesivir) for use in adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older and weighing at least 40 kilograms (about 88 pounds) for the treatment of COVID-19 requiring hospitalization.

This study was supported by the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health grant U19AI142785 and UC7AI094660 for BSL-4 operations support of the Galveston National Laboratory. The researchers disclosed no industry conflicts of interest.

The University of Texas Medical Branch is Texas' first academic health center opened its doors in 1891. Today UTMB has four campuses, four health sciences schools, four institutes for advanced study, a research enterprise that includes one of only two national laboratories dedicated to the safe study of infectious threats to human health, a Level 1 Trauma Center, and a health system offering a full range of primary and specialized medical services throughout the Texas Gulf Coast region.

UTMB is an institution in the University of Texas System and a member of the Texas Medical Center.

PrecisionVaccinations publishes research-based news.

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Veklury (Remdesivir) showed 80 percent protection from Marburg viral disease

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WHO: Marburg virus disease

Veklury Antiviral

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Monday, April 12, 2021 - 05:00

Thin Film Freezing Platform Signs Military Research Agreement

Don Hackett — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 22:26:22 +0000

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TFF Pharmaceuticals Announces CRADA with the USAMRIID for use of it's Thin Film Freezing Technology Platform

A Texas based biopharmaceutical company has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), for defensive research into countermeasures against biological warfare.

Under the terms of the CRADA announced on April 15, 2020, TFF Pharma and the USAMRIID will collaborate over a 3-year period to investigate Thin Film Freezing to formulate two different countermeasures, a monoclonal antibody against Alphaviruses (e.g. Venezuelan, Western, and Eastern equine encephalitis viruses) and a vesicular stomatitis virus vaccine against Filoviruses (e.g. Ebola, Marburg).

TFF Pharmaceuticals’ Thin Film Freezing (TFF) platform was designed to improve the solubility and absorption of poorly water-soluble drugs and is particularly suited to generate dry powder particles with properties targeted for inhalation delivery, especially to the deep lung, an area of extreme interest in respiratory medicine.

The TFF process results in a “Brittle Matrix Particle,” which possesses low bulk density, high surface area, and typically an amorphous morphology, allowing the particles to supersaturate when contacting the target site, such as lung tissue.

Based upon laboratory experiments, the aerodynamic properties of the particles are such that the portion of a drug deposited to the deep lung has the potential to reach as high as 75 percent.

USAMRIID will evaluate the immune responses induced by the dry powder formulations given by the pulmonary or intranasal route in a rodent model, as compared to the traditional routes of administration.

“Biodefense threats and emerging infectious diseases such as COVID-19 continue to be a major concern to our military and civilian populations,” said Glenn Mattes, CEO of TFF Pharmaceuticals, in a press release.

“We believe our Thin Film Freezing technology approach can produce efficacious biodefense and emerging disease countermeasure powder formulations that are highly suitable for the respiratory route of administration; highly absorbable and effectively distributed; and physiochemically stable for an extended period,” continued Mattes.

“This CRADA, with the world’s preeminent biodefense research organization, is another validation of Thin Film Freezing’s potential as an important, disruptive platform technology.”

The Company’s testing confirms that Thin Film Freezing maintains a potential vaccine’s particle size distribution and immunogenicity, is robust for extended periods at room temperature, and withstands unintentional freezing.

It can be stored and shipped free of cold-chain handling, displays extended stability for stockpiling (dry powder storage vs. liquid), and provides for needle-free vaccination (nasal or inhalation administration).

“Our warfighters - and our scientists - are frequently deployed to some of the world’s most environmentally hostile climates,” said Dr. John M. Dye, Jr., Viral Immunology branch chief, USAMRIID.

“Having biodefense countermeasures that are potentially more easily administered via a pulmonary or intranasal route, and are temperature stable, could be an important advantage in these types of environments.”

TFF continues to engage with various government and defense contracting agencies in an effort to utilize the Company’s TFF technology platform to formulate dry powder vaccines for delivery via reconstitution or lung or nasal inhalation.

For over 50 years, USAMRIID has provided leading-edge medical capabilities to deter and defend against current and emerging biological threat agents.

TFF Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative drug products.

Biodefence news published by Precision Vaccinations.

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TFF Pharmaceuticals Thin Film Freezing platform improves the solubility and absorption of poorly water-soluble drugs

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$35.7 Million Awarded For Marburg Virus Vaccine Development

Don Hackett — Wed, 13 Nov 2019 22:19:37 +0000

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Award from U.S. Department of Defense to Advance Marburg Virus Vaccine Candidate Development

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced IAVI has been awarded $35.7 million dollars to develop a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) vector Marburg virus vaccine candidate, called rVSVΔG-MARV-GP.

The Marburg virus vaccine candidate, licensed by IAVI from the Public Health Agency of Canada, demonstrated strong protection from the deadly disease in non-human primate studies.

This is important news since the Marburg virus is a public health threat that has a high case fatality rate, and it is a potential bioterrorism threat.

Marburg hemorrhagic fever is a very rare human disease. However, when it occurs, it has the potential to spread to other people.

The Marburg virus was first recognized in 1967, when outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever occurred simultaneously in laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany and in Serbia, says the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC has classified the Marburg virus as a Category A bioterrorism threat, which indicates a high-priority agent that poses a risk to national security.

The reservoir host of the Marburg virus is the African fruit bat, Rousettus aegyptiacus. Fruit bats infected with Marburg do not show obvious signs of illness.

During 2018, the World Health Organization initiated a Blueprint list of priority diseases to accelerate Research & Development efforts for pathogens that bear a particularly high potential to cause epidemics while no or limited specific countermeasures are available and may, therefore, cause future public health emergencies.

The WHO’s Blueprint list includes the Marburg virus.

This DTRA award builds on IAVI’s expertise in VSV vector technology that has developed a VSV HIV vaccine candidate and VSV Lassa fever vaccine candidate, which are in preclinical development.

Mark Feinberg, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of IAVI, said, “IAVI looks forward to applying more than a decade of our experience in viral vector vaccines to hasten the development of this viral hemorrhagic fever vaccine candidate, and we are grateful to the U.S. Department of Defense for its support of this critical work.”

The Marburg virus vaccine candidate rVSVΔG-MARV-GP is based on the same VSV platform as Merck’s Ebola Zaire virus vaccine candidate that was tested during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak and is currently being used in the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Recent Ebola news

As a vaccine vector, VSV delivers a gene from the target pathogen designed to lead to a long-lasting immune response in the recipient.

Data from an efficacy trial in Guinea of the Ebola Zaire virus vaccine candidate indicates that vaccine efficacy is as high as 100 percent.

Much of the preclinical work on the Marburg virus vaccine candidate will be performed by scientists at IAVI’s Vaccine Design and Development Laboratory (DDL) in Brooklyn, New York, which is home to IAVI’s VSV vaccine preclinical development.

In addition, critical work to validate the key assays needed to measure immune responses in clinical trials will be done at the IAVI Human Immunology Laboratory, based at Imperial College London.

IAVI’s research partners in this vaccine program are investigators at the Center for Global Infectious Disease Research; La Jolla Institute for Immunology; Ragon Institute of MIT, MGH, and Harvard; Tulane University; and University of Texas Medical Branch. The manufacturing partner is Batavia Biosciences. Clinical research partners in the U.S. and Africa are George Washington University, KAVI-Institute of Clinical Research (Kenya), Kenema Government Hospital (Sierra Leone), MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, National Public Health Institute of Liberia, and Projet San Francisco (Rwanda). Merck & Co., Inc., is a scientific advisor.

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency enables the Department of Defense, the United States Government, and international partners to counter and deter weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and improvised threat networks.

As the DoD’s research and development leader focused on WMD and improvised threats, DTRA facilitates innovation through combining traditional research with unconventional means to develop and quickly field solutions to the most complex, deadly and urgent threats facing the United States and the rest of the world.

DTRA has over 2,000 uniformed military personnel and DoD civilians working on every continent except Antarctica.

Marburg Vaccine news published by Precision Vaccinations

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IAVI rVSVΔG-MARV-GP is a Marburg virus vaccine candidate

References:

CDC: Marburg hemorrhagic fever (Marburg HF)

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Sabin Vaccine Institute Awarded $20.5 Million Dollars to Advance Ebola Sudan and Marburg Vaccines

Don Hackett — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 20:11:14 +0000

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