Marburg has been detected in Ghana (file photo)
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Ghana has confirmed its first two cases of Marburg virus, a highly infectious disease similar to Ebola.
A hospital in the south of the country confirmed two positive samples in people who had recently died.
Ghana has now put 98 people into quarantine amid fears of a wider spread.
Marburg, which was first detected in the German city it was named after, killed more than 300 people in Angola in 2005.
Since the virus was discovered in 1967, there have also been cases in several other African countries. The most recent cases have been spotted in Uganda.
Marburg is transmitted to people from bats and spreads between humans through bodily fluids. No treatment yet exists for Marburg.
The British Government has acknowledged the threat of Marburg, which it says can kill.
A statement added: “The incubation period is typically three to 10 days, with rare reports of longer incubation periods up to four weeks (although the precise mechanism of transmission in these cases was not well documented).
“The onset of illness is sudden, with: severe headache, malaise high fever, progressive and rapid debilitation.
“By about the third day symptoms include: watery diarrhoea, abdominal pain, cramping, nausea, vomiting symptoms become increasingly severe, and many patients develop severe haemorrhagic fever after five to seven days.
“Fatal cases usually exhibit some form of bleeding, often from multiple sites.”
There is no specific treatment available but doctors say drinking plenty of water and treating specific symptoms can aid recovery.
“Measures for prevention of secondary transmission of Marburg virus are similar to those used for other haemorrhagic fever viruses, and focus on avoiding contact with infected bodily fluids,” the Government statement added.
“To avoid person to person transmission of Marburg virus, healthcare workers must take great care when nursing patients, to avoid contact with infected bodily fluids.”
