Marburg Disease Outbreak in Tanzania 2023

Key points

An outbreak of Marburg disease occurred in Tanzania from March - May 2023. This was the country's first Marburg disease outbreak and resulted in five deaths.

An outbreak of Marburg disease occurred in Tanzania from March - May 2023. This was the country's first Marburg disease outbreak and resulted in five deaths.

Outbreak investigation summary

On March 21, 2023, Tanzania government officials declared the country's first outbreak of Marburg disease. CDC's Tanzania country office provided immediate support in surveillance, epidemiology, and data management. The outbreak was declared over on May 31, with one probable and eight confirmed cases, of which five died. All cases were reported from the country's northwest Kagera region.

A Marburg disease outbreak occurred around the same time in Equatorial Guinea. At this time, there is no evidence of a link between the Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania outbreaks. No confirmed cases of Marburg disease related to these outbreaks were reported outside of those two countries.

Map of Tanzania showing the location of Marburg disease cases
All cases were found in the northwest Kagera region.