Tanzania’s president says one sample from a remote northern part of the country has tested positive for Marburg disease.

Tanzania and the World Health Organisation confirmed on Monday the outbreak of Marburg virus disease in the northwestern Kagera region

Officials previously questioned whether the deadly disease was indeed present in the African country, which had seen 8 suspected Marburg deaths.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Monday confirmed the country's second outbreak of Marburg virus <a target=_b

NAIROBI (Reuters) - A suspected outbreak of the Marburg virus in northwest Tanzania has infected nine people, killing eight of them, the World Health Organization has said, weeks after an outbreak of the disease was declared over in neighbouring Rwanda.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned of a suspected new outbreak of the Ebola-like Marburg virus in north-west Tanzania, saying that at least eight people have already been killed by the disease. On Tuesday, the WHO said that nine suspected cases of Marburg were reported in the region of Kagera over the last five days.

In March 2023, Tanzania reported its first Marburg virus outbreak, which also occurred in Kagera region. The outbreak was declared over in June 2023, with nine infections reported, six of them fatal. The WHO said zoonotic reservoirs of the virus, such as fruit bats, remain in the area.

Tanzania's president has announced an outbreak of Marburg virus, an Ebola-like virus, just a week after her health minister denied that there were any cases in the country. President Samia Suluhu Hassan said at a press conference on Monday that health authorities had confirmed one case of Marburg in the north-western region of Kagera.