Marburg cases rise to sixteen in Equatorial Guinea

DAKAR, (Reuters) – Equatorial Guinea has confirmed 16 positive cases of Marburg disease since the beginning of the outbreak, the country’s health ministry said.

Marburg virus disease is a viral haemorrhagic fever that can have a fatality rate of up to 88%, according to the WHO.

Symptoms include fever, fatigue and blood-stained vomit and diarrhoea. There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat it. Marburg is passed on to people from fruit bats and is from the same virus family responsible for the deadly Ebola disease.