Ghana has confirmed its first two cases of the highly infectious Marburg virus disease, the World Health Organization said Sunday in a statement.
The announcement comes after two unrelated patients from the southern Ashanti region of Ghana, both of whom later died, tested positive for the virus.
Marburg is a highly infectious viral hemorrhagic fever in the same family as the better-known Ebola virus disease and has a fatality ratio of up to 88%, according to WHO. "Illness begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache, and malaise," it stated.
The Ghana Health Service has urged the Ghanaian public to avoid mines and caves occupied by fruit bats and to thoroughly cook all meat products before consumption, to help reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
Fruit bats are natural hosts of the Marburg virus, the health service said.
The Ghana outbreak is only the second in West Africa after Guinea detected the virus last year.
The patient in the Guinea outbreak also died from the virus.
