Two confirmed cases of the highly contagious Marburg virus in Ghana. On Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that two persons in Ghana who subsequently passed away tested positive for the Marburg virus, a highly deadly illness comparable to Ebola. Both of these individuals had perished.

The findings of tests that were carried out in Ghana came back positive, but the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement that the results need to be validated by a laboratory in Senegal before the cases can be declared confirmed.

According to the statement, both of the patients who had been admitted to the hospital from the southern Ashanti area had been experiencing symptoms like diarrhoea, fever, nausea, and vomiting before their deaths.

In the event that the cases are verified, this would be only the second Marburg epidemic to occur in West Africa. Guinea was where the virus was discovered for the first time, and since then, there have been no other instances found.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Preparations for a probable epidemic response are being built up promptly while more investigations are ongoing.”

Since 1967, there have been a dozen large outbreaks of Marburg, most of which have occurred in southern and eastern Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the fatality rate in previous epidemics has ranged anywhere from 24 per cent to 88 per cent depending on the virus type and the handling of the cases.