Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to monitor the re-emergence of the Marburg virus in Ghana.

As outlined in the International Development Strategy, the UK is committed to strengthening global health security. In Ghana, the UK recently trained 7,000 health workers on surveillance and response, including in the regions affected by the current Marburg outbreak. Ghana responded swiftly to the outbreak and continues to intensify containment measures, with all new suspected Marburg cases identified through surveillance activities. The UK continues to support Ghana on surveillance and infection prevention and control, and has offered to provide additional support if needed.

More broadly, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are also providing technical support to the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, to improve regional preparedness and response, and address weaknesses in health security systems in Ghana and neighbouring countries as needed. The FCDO's Emergency Medical Teams and UK Health Security Agency's Public Health Rapid Response Teams have expertise and capacity to be deployed at short notice and have recently provided support to African countries including Ghana, for Covid-19 and Ebola and Marburg outbreaks.