Marburg virus disease- Ethiopia

Marburg virus disease- Ethiopia was recorded by Global Incident Tracker on Monday, 26 January 2026 at 17:02 UTC. The event is classified as a epidemic incident with a severity rating of Severe, and was detected through the World Health Organization (WHO).

On 26 January 2026, the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia declared the end of the Marburg virus disease (MVD) outbreak. This declaration came after two consecutive incubation periods (a total of 42 days) since the last person confirmed with MVD died and was given a safe and dignified burial, in accordance with WHO recommendations on 14 December 2025. As of 25 January 2026, a cumulative total of 19 cases, including 14 confirmed (including nine deaths) and five probable cases (all deaths), were reported. A total of 857 contacts listed for monitoring all had completed their 21-day follow-up as of 25 January 2026. WHO, through its country office and partners, provided technical, operational and financial support to the government to contain this outbreak.

Where this happened

The incident is located in Ethiopia (Africa), whose capital is Addis Ababa. Historically, Ethiopia is most affected by droughts, floods, epidemics and conflict. You can follow every incident recorded in this country, updated live, on the Ethiopia incident tracker.

Approximate coordinates of the reported event are 9.100°, 40.500°. The marker on the map above shows this position; for news-derived reports the location reflects the place named in media coverage and may represent a district or city rather than an exact site.

Understanding epidemic events

Disease outbreaks including cholera, dengue, measles, Ebola and influenza. Outbreak trajectories depend on transmission route, population immunity and the speed of detection. Early case-finding, clean water and vaccination coverage change outcomes far more than late-stage restrictions.

How severity is rated

Global Incident Tracker rates every event on a four-step scale — Minor, Moderate, Severe and Extreme — derived from the source signal: earthquake magnitude, official GDACS alert colour, or the volume of independent media reporting for news-derived incidents. This event is currently rated Severe. Ratings can change as more information becomes available, and a rating is a monitoring signal rather than an official government assessment.

Safety guidance for epidemic situations

• Follow official case definitions and testing guidance rather than social-media claims.
• Prioritise clean water, hand hygiene and safe food handling during any outbreak.
• Keep routine vaccinations up to date; they carry most of the protective effect.
• Seek care early if you belong to a high-risk group.
• Follow only official instructions from local authorities and emergency services — this page is a monitoring record, not an emergency alert.

Data and verification

This record was generated automatically from the World Health Organization (WHO) and de-duplicated against our archive. Early reports for any incident can be revised: locations get refined, magnitudes are recalculated and impact figures change as assessments arrive. We deliberately do not publish casualty numbers unless an official source states them. The original source report is linked at the top of this page.

Keep watching the situation on our live world incident map, browse every epidemics and outbreaks we track on the Epidemic tracker, or see today's global picture on the incidents today page.

Timeline and sources

1. 9 Aug 2026, 19:57 UTC · received · event time 26 Jan 2026, 17:02 UTC
   First report Humanitarian agency report

   First recorded from World Health Organization.

   World Health Organization ↗

Times are when this site received each report, in UTC; the event time is shown where the source gave one. Copies of one syndicated story count as one report.

Conditions at the time