GENEVA, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Three cases of Marburg hemorrhagic fever have been reported in Kitumba sub-county, Kabale district of southwestern Uganda, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced in a statement late Sunday.
Blood samples from the three cases have tested positive for Marburg at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) and investigation into the outbreak is underway, the WHO said.
The WHO will provide support to the national authorities as needed in the areas of coordination, infection prevention and control, surveillance, epidemiology, public information and social mobilization, anthropological analysis and logistics for outbreak response.
With respect to this outbreak, the WHO does not recommend that any travel or trade restrictions are applied to Uganda.
Marburg hemorrhagic fever is a viral hemorrhagic fever and a severe and highly fatal disease caused by a virus from the same family as the one that causes Ebola hemorrhagic fever.
These viruses are among the most virulent pathogens known to infect humans. Both diseases are rare, but have a capacity to cause dramatic outbreaks with high fatality, according to the WHO.
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