Genomic analysis of early case samples from the 2025 Marburg virus outbreak in Ethiopia

In November 2025, Ethiopia reported its first outbreak of Marburg virus disease, with a case fatality rate of 64%. Here we report the analysis of seven near-complete Marburg virus genomes from seven early cases. The outbreak lineage belonged to the MARV.A.1 clade, which is closely related to genomes from historical human cases and bats. A high nucleotide identity across the seven genomes suggests human-to-human transmission after a zoonotic spillover event. These findings highlight the importance of genomic surveillance for outbreak detection, response and preparedness. Phylogenetic analysis of seven Marburg virus genomes from the 2025 outbreak in Ethiopia suggests human-to-human transmission after a spillover event.