Building on the recent controversy over Tanzania’s handling of a suspected Marburg virus outbreak, Medicines for Africa’s Lenias Hwenda explores how African nations often face disproportionate consequences for outbreak transparency—penalties that wealthier countries rarely experience.
African countries face a difficult choice during outbreak situations. On one hand, they have a legitimate need to protect their national interests. On the other hand, international law obliges them to report outbreaks and doing so often proves harmful to a country’s national interests.
Tanzania’s government’s recent denial that the country had a Marburg outbreak whilst the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that several people were believed to have died from Marburg highlights this tension. Marburg virus, like Ebola, causes severe hemorrhagic fever. On January 13, 2025, the WHO reported a suspected outbreak of Marburg virus disease in Tanzania, with eight fatalities and a CFR of 89%. Whilst Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan would later confirm the outbreak on 20 January following laboratory confirmation, it is unusual for the WHO to report an outbreak that the government subsequently refutes.
The government of Tanzania’s response to the WHO’s report of a suspected Marburg virus outbreak in Tanzania was a firm denial of the presence of the virus within its borders. Health Minister Jenista Mhagama announced on January 15, 2025, that all laboratory tests conducted on suspected cases were negative for Marburg virus.
Minister Mhagama emphasized that the Ministry of Health had promptly dispatched a team of experts to the affected area to conduct thorough investigations, collect samples, and perform laboratory analyses, all of which confirmed the absence of the virus. She reassured the public that Tanzania has strengthened its disease surveillance systems to promptly identify and manage any potential health threats, underscoring the country’s commitment to transparency and public health safety. The WHO’s assessment was that the risk of further spread within Tanzania and neighbouring regions was high and that there was a need for continued vigilance and preparedness.
Tanzania’s reticence to acknowledge WHO reports of a Marburg virus outbreak is understandable given the experience of other African nations. They have faced disproportionate economic and political consequences for transparency during outbreak situations. For instance, in 2024, following a small outbreak of Marburg, Rwanda swiftly brought the outbreak under control with appropriate and successful countermeasures.
Rwanda’s outbreak, first reported on September 27, was declared over by December 20. Very few people died and the majority of those affected were healthcare workers who handled the first patient. This textbook example of effective outbreak control did not prevent countries like the United States from issuing travel advisories that harmed Rwanda’s economy and its international image.
Similarly, during the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Botswana and South Africa reported the new variants as required by international law. They were not the first to discover it, however. Omicron had already been detected in Europe, by the Netherlands without the necessary disclosure.
Dutch authorities would subsequently disclose that they had detected the Omicron variant a full week prior to its detection in Botswana amongst passengers flying from Amsterdam to the Botswanan capital Gaborone. The result was an immediate international travel ban for the entire southern Africa region for reporting a viral variant that was already present in Europe.
Sweeping restrictions cost the economies of Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries dearly whilst European countries where the variant first emerged faced no consequences. This shows a troubling double standard. African countries are often punished for transparency but wealthier nations are not held to the same standard. It is a toxic dynamic that undermines trust in international health cooperation and discourages reporting.
Evidence suggests that restrictions to travel and trade and visa refusals for travellers from countries experiencing outbreaks do not delay international spread. Instead, governments should increase health surveillance at border entry points based on scientific and ethical principle. This is more likely to encourage countries to openly report outbreaks whilst allowing destination countries to monitor and limit potential spread.
