Uganda finds isolated Marburg virus case

Ugandan health authorities have confirmed an isolated case of Marburg virus disease, a highly infectious hemorrhagic fever, while conducting surveillance for the ongoing Ebola outbreak, Africa's top public health agency said on Wednesday.

No contacts of the Marburg case have developed symptoms, and there is currently no active case in the East African country, a spokesperson for the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention added, citing Ugandan authorities.

A spokesperson for Uganda's health ministry said he was not aware of a Marburg outbreak.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it had been notified by Uganda of the case on June 30 and had informed its member states.

Africa CDC said the Marburg case was detected in Kyegegwa district in western Uganda, in a child who later died.

Uganda's last Marburg outbreak was in 2017, and it has had three others, a WHO spokesperson said.

Responding to Marburg requires the same measures as responding to Ebola, they added.

Uganda is already tackling an Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain and linked to the emergency in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Uganda has reported 20 Ebola cases and two deaths.