Marburg virus disease- Ethiopia

Marburg virus disease- Ethiopia was recorded by Global Incident Tracker on Friday, 21 November 2025 at 16:33 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 12 November 2025, WHO noted a press release from the Ethiopian Ministry of Health (MoH), and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), announcing suspected viral hemorrhagic viral fever (VHF) in Jinka town, South Ethiopia Regional State, Ethiopia. On 14 November 2025, the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia confirmed that the cases previously reported as suspected VHF were Marburg virus disease (MVD). Molecular testing conducted by the National Reference Laboratory at EPHI identified Marburg virus (MARV) in patient samples. As of 20 November 2025, 33 laboratory tests have been conducted, of which six confirmed cases, including three deaths, have been reported. Of the six confirmed cases, three are currently alive and on treatment. In addition to the lab-confirmed cases, a further three epidemiologically linked cases could not be tested; all three are deceased and recorded as probable

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

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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.

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Timeline and sources

1. 9 Aug 2026, 19:57 UTC · received · event time 21 Nov 2025, 16:33 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