NINE people have died after testing positive for one of world’s most lethal diseases in Equatorial Guinea.
The Marburg virus, which is similar to Ebola, causes those who catch it, to bleed to death.
Pictured is a microscopic image of Marburg virus, a pathogen very similar to EbolaGetty – Contributor
It’s the first time the nasty bug, which has a mortality rate of 90 per cent, has been found in the central African country.
Health authorities are now scrambling to contain the virus, which sixteen people in the region have already tested positive for, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced.
The country has as quarantined more than 200 people and has restricted movement, Health Minister Mitoha Ondo’o Ayekaba has said.
Local health officials initially raised the alarm on February 7, after a mystery illness causing hemorrhagic fever killed several people in Kie Ntem.
Preliminary investigations revealed Marburg virus was to blame.
Many who catch the disease develop severe internal bleeding within a week, with blood from the nose, gums, vagina and in vomit and faeces, and die not long after.
The virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats.
It can spread between humans through direct contact with bodily fluids, surfaces and materials, the WHO said.
No treatment or vaccine exists for Marburg.
There have been a dozen major Marburg outbreaks since it was discovered in Marburg, Germany, in 1967.
Cases have mostly been in southern and eastern Africa, including Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, WHO said.