Two people who died in Ghana tested positive for Marburg virus, a highly infectious disease similar to Ebola, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced.
Test results will be confirmed by a lab in Senegal. Photo: AFP
Tests conducted in the west African country came back positive, but those results must be confirmed by a laboratory in Senegal for the cases to be considered confirmed, the WHO said in a statement.
The two patients in the southern Ashanti region both had symptoms, including diarrhoea, fever, nausea and vomiting, before dying in hospital, the statement said.
If the cases are confirmed, it would be only the second outbreak of Marburg in West Africa. The first ever case of the virus was detected last year in Guinea, with no further cases identified.
"Preparations for a possible outbreak response are being set up swiftly as further investigations are underway," the WHO said.
There have been a dozen major Marburg outbreaks since 1967, mostly in southern and eastern Africa. Fatality rates have varied from 24 percent to 88 percent in past outbreaks depending on the virus strain and case management, according to the WHO.
- Reuters