5 Terrifying Lab Leaks That Actually Happened

In August 1967, the idyllic town of Marburg, Germany, became the epicenter of a mysterious and deadly outbreak. Individuals inexplicably started experiencing muscle pain, headaches, malaise, and rapidly increasing body temperatures.

Initially baffled, medical officials contained the first patients to their homes, treating them in isolation to control the potential spread of a virus. However, as symptoms intensified, the infected were transferred to university hospitals in Marburg and Frankfurt for close monitoring. Fever and bleeding from various orifices marked a terrifying progression of the illness.

Despite containment efforts, the infection ravaged their bodies, and within a week, many patients faced severe hemorrhagic shock. Officials raced against time to identify the elusive virus and prevent further infections.

A breakthrough came when a pathology technician contracted the virus after accidentally cutting himself during a postmortem examination. This discovery suggested bloodborne transmission. Epidemiologists then traced the infection to employees of a vaccine manufacturer named Behringwerke and an institute that handled similar substances. The common link: contact with blood and organs of African Green Monkeys recently imported from Uganda.

Investigators speculated that the monkeys were infected in Uganda or possibly in London during temporary storage with other animals.

With the source and transmission method identified, the virus was finally contained.

This virus was later named the Marburg Virus after the city where it was first discovered. The 1967 outbreak recorded 32 confirmed cases and 7 deaths, but Marburg's deadly legacy was far from over...