Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed the deadly Marburg virus in Guinea, West Africa. A virus similar to Ebola is transmitted to humans from bats. The mortality rate is 88 percent.
The WHO says samples collected from a patient who died Aug. 2 in Ducato confirm infection. Clarified. Three relatives of the deceased and the treated health workers are under observation.
WHO announces end to second Ebola outbreak The new virus arrived two months after its announcement. Twelve people have died in the country from Ebola, which started last year.
Although the findings are challenging locally and regionally, the WHO says the risk is low globally. Said Matsidiso Moyti, Regional Director for Africa. The virus got its name from its discovery in 1967 in the German city of Malberg. Earlier, the disease was confirmed in South Africa, Kenya, Uganda and Congo. But this is the first time the disease has spread to West Africa.
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