Disease

Three people have died in Kitimba, Kabale district, southwest Uganda from an outbreak of Marburg virus disease, a severe and highly fatal infection, just two weeks after the east African nation said it was free of the deadly Ebola virus.

Another four people who have died since October 4 are also suspected to have been killed by the disease.

There is no vaccine or specific treatment for Marburg virus disease, also know as Marburg haemorrhagic fever, which is transmitted through bodily fluids such as saliva and blood, or by handling infected wild animals such as monkeys.

The disease, from the same family of viruses as Ebola, starts with severe headache and leads to haemorrhaging and, in previous outbreaks in Africa, to death in 80 percent or more of cases, usually within eight to nine days.