Bwamba Fever - Bwamba Fever

Bwamba Fever

Bwamba fever virus is transmitted to humans through mosquito bites and causes Bwamba fever. The main anthropophilic vectors are Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus. Bwamba fever presents itself as a severe generalised infection of short duration, usually only lasting four to five days. Symptoms include fever, headache, arthralgia, and local as well as generalised pain. "Exanthem is nearly always present and is frequently associated with meningeal involvement. Intestinal tract involvement, especially diarrhea, is also seen. Some patients may also develop a body rash", as reported by the Uganda Virus Research Institute, who also discovered the disease in the 1940s. Bwamba fever is present in large parts of Africa and antibodies of the virus have been found ‘as far south as the Republic of South Africa and as far north westwards as Gambia’. Furthermore, Bwamba fever is endemic in several African countries, including Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda, where the virus was initially discovered. However, the distribution of the virus tends to be underestimated because the symptoms are relatively mild and are often mistaken for malaria.