Ghana confirms first cases of deadly Marburg virus.
Ghana has confirmed its first two cases of the deadly Marburg virus, a disease in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola.
They said both patients died recently at a hospital in the southern Ashanti region.
Their samples tested positive earlier in the month, and have now also been verified by a laboratory in Senegal.
Health officials in the West African nation said 98 people have now been quarantined as suspected contacts.
There is still no cure for the Marburg virus – but doctors say that drinking plenty of water and treating certain specific symptoms significantly improves patients’ chances of survival.
The virus is transmitted to humans by bats and is spread between humans through the transmission of bodily fluids.
It is a serious, often fatal disease with symptoms that include headache, fever, muscle aches, vomiting blood and bleeding.
Officials have warned people to stay away from caves and to cook all meat products thoroughly before consuming them.
In Africa, outbreaks and sporadic cases were reported earlier in Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, say the WHO.
The first outbreak of Marburg virus was in Germany in 1967 when seven people died from this virus.
More than 200 people died in Angola from this virus in 2005, when the largest outbreak of the virus ever recorded by the WHO occurred.
