Marburg virus Germany: Latest updates after police shut down major train station amid fears passengers have deadly 'eye-bleeding' virus

Police closed two tracks at Hamburg’s central station on Wednesday (2 October) while emergency crews in full protective gear evacuated a train from Frankfurt. The emergency response came after two passengers, a 26-year-old medical student and his partner, contacted doctors because they were worried that they had contracted a tropical disease in Rwanda.

The East African country is currently experiencing an outbreak of the lethal and highly contagious Marburg virus. According to the country’s health ministry, there have been 26 confirmed cases as of Sunday (29 September), while eight people have died from the virus.

Earlier reports had suggested the pair had developed flu-like symptoms on the train. The Hamburg Fire Department had said one person had suffered from mild vomiting. However, it has since been confirmed that the pair have tested negative for the virus.

“The person, who worked in a hospital in Rwanda as part of their medical studies, tested negative for the Marburg virus using a PCR test,” a statement from Hamburg's social affairs department read. “At no time did they have any complaints or symptoms corresponding to the disease.”

The Hamburg authority said: “According to their own statements, they had two contacts in the hospital around September 25 with a patient infected with the Marburg virus, which took place with appropriate protective equipment. The accompanying person also tested negative and has mild symptoms of another disease. The accompanying person had no contact with sick people.”

The statement added that the medical student will continue to be monitored until the end of the incubation period of up to 21 days, and that “there was no danger to fellow passengers on the train or in the plane at any time.”

Marburg virus jumps to humans from fruit bats and spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids like blood, saliva, and mucus. Symptoms include high fever, intense headaches, muscle pain, diarrhoea, and vomiting. In severe cases, death can result from massive blood loss from different parts of the body, including the eyes.

There are no approved treatments yet, but one vaccine is being trialled. Rwanda has urged the public to stay alert, practice good hygiene, and report any suspected cases.

Marburg’s natural host is a fruit bat, but it can also infect primates, pigs and other animals. Human outbreaks start after a person has contact with an infected animal. It’s spread between people mainly through direct contact, especially with bodily fluids, and it causes an illness like Ebola, with fever, headache and malaise, followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, and aches and pains.