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Two people are believed to have died from the extremely deadly Marburg virus in Ghana as officials gear up for a potential outbreak.
The patients, from the country’s southern Ashanti region, were not known to each other, suggesting the disease is spreading more widely.
Initial tests came back positive for the virus and the samples are being reanalysed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
If confirmed, it would mark only the second time Marburg has been detected in West Africa, after a small outbreak in Guinea last year.
The WHO is sending experts to support Ghanaian health officials and track down the close contacts of the victims.
A deadly cousin of Ebola, Marburg kills between a quarter and 90 per cent of everyone who gets infected.
The highly-infectious pathogen has been touted as the next big pandemic threat, with the WHO describing it as “epidemic-prone”.
Infected patients become “ghost-like”, often developing deep-set eyes and expressionless faces. This is usually accompanied by bleeding from multiple orifices — including the nose, gums, eyes and vagina.
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