Hamburg police partially closed the city’s main station due to suspicions that a man who had previously contracted Marburg fever in Rwanda arrived on one of the trains, a law enforcement official said.
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“One person, accompanied by another, arrived on an ICE fast train and is believed to be infected with the Marburg virus,” the statement said.
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The passenger arrived from Frankfurt, where he had previously landed on a flight from Rwanda. Shortly before arriving in Hamburg, the man called an acquaintance and admitted that he had a high fever, and in Rwanda he had been in contact with a person who had Marburg fever.
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The police partially blocked the entrances and exits of Hamburg Central Station in order to delay the possible spread of infection. A special ambulance equipped to transport patients with dangerous infections arrived at the station building.
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In Rwanda, nine people have died from Marburg fever and 27 people are still infected. Marburg virus is transmitted to humans by fruit bats and spreads among people through direct contact with the body fluids of infected individuals, as well as surfaces and materials. As noted by the WHO, there are no registered vaccines or antiviral drugs for the treatment of fever. To improve patient survival rates, supportive therapy (oral or intravenous rehydration) and symptomatic treatment are used.
