Outbreak of Marburg kills five people in Uganda
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A nurse takes care of a man sick with haemorrhagic fever
Five people have died of Marburg haemorrhagic fever in the Kabale district of south-western Uganda, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The highly infectious disease causes high fever, diarrhoea, weakness and bleeding.
WHO and the Ugandan Ministry of Health have deployed a team to the district to support the investigation of the outbreak and how to respond.
Dr. Joaquim Saweka is the WHO representative in Uganda.
"That's unfortunate because we have this outbreak almost fifteen days after we declared the end of Ebola outbreak, but it is different. It is in south-west Uganda. So far we have nine cases, out of which five dead. Four are still alive. We are at this moment following about 34 cases. We are tracing all possible contacts, including the capital Kampala."
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WHO says that with respect to this outbreak it does not recommend that any travel or trade restrictions are applied to Uganda.
