An Ebola-like virus with a mortality rate of over 80 percent has killed at least eight people in Rwanda in a fresh outbreak.
Authorities in the African country say 26 cases have so far been confirmed of the Marburg virus, which causes a deadly hemorrhagic fever.
Around 300 people have been identified as having come into contact with those infected with the virus.
An unspecified number have been quarantined in isolation units as health officials desperately try to contain the outbreak.
A majority of those affected are reported to be health workers across six out of 30 districts in the country.
Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana said: “Marburg is a rare disease. We are intensifying contact tracing and testing to help stop the spread.”
He added that health authorities were still at a loss to identify the source of the Marburg outbreak.
Like Ebola, the virus originates in fruit bats and spreads through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or with surfaces, such as contaminated bed sheets.
There are no approved vaccines or treatments for the lethal virus, which has a fatality rate of up to 88 percent.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised against all travel to Rwanda while authorities battle to bring the situation under control.
A WHO official advised anyone experiencing symptoms of the virus to seek medical help immediately.
“It is important for people showing Marburg-like symptoms to seek care early for supportive
“WHO assesses the risk of this outbreak as very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at the global level.”
Symptoms can take between three days to three weeks to manifest themselves, he added.
These include fever, muscle pains, diarrhea, vomiting and, in some cases, death through extreme blood loss.
