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A 30-year-old hospital technician died of the Marburg virus this weekend in Uganda

A 30-year-old hospital technician died of the Marburg virus this weekend in Uganda, health officials there announced Sunday. Marburg, like Ebola, is a hemorrhagic fever. It's rare but severe. According to NBC's Monday report, officials in Uganda have quarantined about 80 people who came into contact with the victim, one of whom — the man's brother — has developed the early symptoms of the disease. Sixty of those quarantined are health-care workers.

Marburg and virulent Ebola viruses are maintained in hosts that are rare and have little contact with humans or do not readily transmit virus. Bats (particularly solitary microchiropteran species) are leading contenders as reservoir hosts. virus transfer to humans occurs by contact with the primary reservoir or via an intermediate animal that acquired infection from the reservoir and is, in turn, hunted by humans. An interesting possibility is that filoviruses may be arthropod or plant viruses, with non—blood-feeding arthropods transmitting the virus to intermediate hosts or humans during oral ingestion or envenomation. Paradoxically, in Africa, Ebola virus disease has high lethality and high seroprevalence as determined by the IFA test. If the seroreactivity is confirmed by more specific tests, then the Ebola virus serogroup in Africa probably contains an antigenically cross-reactive, enzootic, nonpathogenic agent(s). Such viruses may have separate life cycles or may give rise to virulent strains by mutation.

SAN SALVADOR, June 20, 2014 (AFP) - The mosquito-born chikungunya virus is spreading into Central America, health authorities there say, after outbreaks in several Caribbean nations. The virus -- rarely fatal, but nevertheless serious -- sparks high fevers and severe joint aches, as well as headaches, nausea and extreme fatigue. "We are facing a new illness in the country, but we are working to fight it," said El Salvador Health Minister Violeta Menjivar, whose country has reported 1,200 cases so far.

A previous abbreviation for the virus was MBGV.

The Marburg virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected persons. Transmission of the Marburg virus also occurred by handling ill or dead infected wild animals (monkeys, fruit bats).

On 5 October 2014, the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Uganda notified WHO of a confirmed case of Marburg virus disease (MVD) in Kampala, Uganda.

Focusing on the cases of two dogs can seem trivial compared to the 4,000 people in West Africa who have died from Ebola this year.

Some studies have shown that dogs may experience asymptomatic Ebola infections, the CDC says -- meaning they may have the virus but don't get sick. Also, the agency says, human infections haven't been linked to dogs.

From 2006‒2013, studies identified an average of 28 people per year in the United States with positive tests for recent chikungunya virus infection