The bad news is it’s a very serious virus if you contract It. But the positive news is that it’s very difficult to contract the Marburg virus.  A person has to come into direct physical contact with The bodily fluids of an infected person!  It is not airborne and you will not contact it if you are in the same restaurant, aeroplane, vehicle or even crowd. 

One of the problems is that at first it appears like a regular malaria case. And initially some first responders, a doctor and a nurse contracted the virus because they looked after a patient without understanding the severity of the disease.

As of 4 January 2026, according to government figures, 3,715 people have been tested from Which only 14 people have tested positive. Of these 9 have died and 5 have recovered. In fact, there may have been two additional cases, people who contracted and died from the virus before they could be tested, right at the start. Which would mean 11 people have died. 

Last new case tested was on the 12th of December, at which point only 1,765 people had been tested. So with almost 2,000 more people tested, following up leads and connections there were 0 positive tests. 

The outbreak began in early November with first reports in the middle of November. Only two new cases were reported in the first half of December.   From these statistics, it is pretty clear that the outbreak has been contained. 

The outbreak has been confined to south Ethiopia and particularly to Jinka and the area around it. With perhaps two additional cases in Hawassa, also in the south of Ethiopia. 

UK travel advice recommends not going within 5 km of Jinka and Hawassa. However, this is now outdated by the fact that the outbreak of the disease seems to have come to an end.  WHO – World Health Organisation – will not confirm that the outbreak is ended until  ( I think) 42 days have passed since the last confirmed case was discovered. So the headline is likely to remain for some yet, but all danger has passed.