WHO airlifts medical supplies to Tanzania amid MVD outbreak

DAR ES SALAAM -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday airlifted 1.4 tonnes of medical commodities and supplies to Tanzania to fight the Marburg virus disease (MVD) outbreak in the northwestern part of the country.

In its official X platform, the WHO said that the donated medical supplies shipped from the WHO Regional Emergency Response Hub in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to Bukoba in the Kagera region, would be used for patient management and infection control.

The WHO offered the medical aid after Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan confirmed the second outbreak of the MVD in Biharamulo district of Kagera on Monday.

Hassan said that one person was identified as being infected with MVD after laboratory tests conducted at the Kabaile mobile laboratory in the Kagera region and later confirmed positive in Dar es Salaam.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pledged to support Tanzania's response measures, saying the WHO was releasing $3 million from its contingency funds for emergencies, in addition to the $50,000 that it contributed earlier to support the initial investigations.

The WHO chief also pledged to continue supporting Tanzania in bringing the second outbreak under control.

He said since the first outbreak was reported two years ago, Tanzania has scaled up its detection measures, set up treatment centers, acquired mobile laboratories for testing samples, and deployed national response teams.

On Jan 15, the WHO said eight people had been killed in a suspected MVD outbreak in the Kagera region.

In a statement, the WHO warned that the risk of further spread of the deadly disease in the country and the region was high.