WHO has said the risk of the outbreak is “very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at the global level.” Marburg virus disease is highly contagious and can cause haemorrhagic fever with a fatality ratio of up to 88 per cent. There is currently no vaccine or specific treatment.

The East African country continues to investigate the source of the outbreak, first traced among patients in health facilities.

There are no treatments or vaccines approved for Marburg, a virus in the same family as Ebola with a fatality rate between 24% to 88%.