The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a warning to people traveling to two African countries over a deadly Marburg outbreak after it announced it is sending personnel to monitor the disease.
The CDC announced this week it will send the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases to respond to the outbreaks in Guinea and Tanzania.
The virus, according to the World Health Organization, has a death rate ranging from around 25 to 90 percent, has recently spread from rural districts in Equatorial Guinea to more densely populated areas and main transport hubs.
CDC officials have recommended travelers heading to Africa avoid contact with sick individuals and healthcare facilities and monitor any potential symptoms.
Symptoms of the virus - which is a cousin to Ebola - can include fever, sore throat, rash, stomach pain, bloody nose or gums, random bruising and, in severe cases, the patient will often start bleeding from different orifices including their eyes.
An outbreak first occurred in Equatorial Guinea in February.
In the weeks since, the country has reported nine cases with an additional 20 probable cases, according to WHO. All of the additional probable cases have died.
In Tanzania, there have been eight cases, five of whom are confirmed to have died.
Health officials have contacted at least 161 people believed to have had contact with the infected in Tanzania. The cases there are in the northern city of Bukoba, Kagera province, which is home to 120,000 people.
In Gabon and Cameroon - both countries bordering Equatorial Guinea - are currently on high alert over the virus.
The African nations have put in place certain travel restrictions as the virus continues to spread.
The serious virus causes patients to take on a sunken, almost ghost-like appearance with drawn features, lethargy, and deep.
Like Ebola, it’s a hemorrhagic fever, meaning they cause bleeding from multiple organs within the body. In the later stages of the disease, the patient will often start bleeding from different orifices.
According to the CDC, the virus is spread through 'blood or body fluids of a person infected with or who has died from Marburg.'
The illness is also spread through contact with contaminated objects - things like clothing, needles, and medical equipment - or by contact with animals such as bats.
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