Marburg hemorrhagic fever kills 1 person in Uganda
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda's health minister says one person has died of Marburg, a highly infectious disease that, like Ebola, manifests as a viral hemorrhagic fever.
Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said Thursday that tests on a woman who died Oct. 17 came back positive for Marburg.
She said the victim, who lived in eastern Uganda, had looked after a brother who died in September after falling ill with similar signs and symptoms.
Marburg outbreaks start with an infected animal, such as a monkey or a fruit bat, passing the virus to a human. The virus then spreads from human to human by contact with an infected person's body fluids.