Marburg Virus: Origins and Spread

How was the Marburg virus originally spread?

Answer:

The Marburg virus was originally spread by green monkeys.

The Marburg virus, a severe and highly fatal disease caused by a filovirus, was originally spread by green monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops). The first outbreaks of Marburg virus disease in 1967 were linked to laboratories in Germany and Yugoslavia, where workers were exposed through contact with infected green monkeys imported from Uganda. This disease can present with hemorrhagic fever and has similar traits to Ebola, another filovirus.

It is believed that the workers were exposed to the virus through handling infected monkey tissues or body fluids. It is essential to handle any wild animal blood, bodily fluids, or tissues with extreme caution to prevent zoonotic transmissions of such viruses.