Marburg

:This page is about the city in Germany. For the virus, see Marburg (virus). For the city in Slovenia, see Maribor.

Marburg virus

The city's name is also connected to a virus, the Marburg virus, which was first noticed and described during an outbreak in the city due to an accident at the city's main industrial plant, the Behring-Werke (then part of Hoechst and today of Aventis), founded by Marburg citizen and first Nobel Prize in Medicine winner, Emil von Behring. During the outbreak, 19 people became infected and 5 of them died. While this may seem a small number of people, during a cholera epidemic in the modern world only 1 in 20 people die. The Marburg virus is named after the town as it is customary to name viruses of such ferocity after the town or area in which they originate.

Related Topics:
Marburg virus - Nobel Prize in Medicine - Emil von Behring - Cholera

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