Spain has detected its first suspected case of the Marburg virus, a deadly contagious disease that has isolated more than 200 people in Equatorial Guinea, authorities in the Spanish province of Valencia said Saturday.
The regional health authorities said that a 34-year-old who had recently visited Equatorial Guinea had been transferred from a private hospital to an isolation unit in a hospital in Valencia, adding that he was undergoing medical examinations.
The World Health Organization has stated that the death rate from Marburg virus infection can be as high as 88 percent. There is no vaccine or antiviral treatment approved yet.
Equatorial Guinea has placed more than 200 people in quarantine so far and limited the movement of citizens on February 13 in Qui Ntim province, where infections first appeared with the virus, which causes a hemorrhagic fever.
The World Health Organization stated that the small Central African country has so far reported nine deaths and 16 suspected cases of infection with the virus, and symptoms of infection included fever, fatigue, vomiting with blood and diarrhea.
The organization added that it is increasing the control of epidemic diseases in Equatorial Guinea.
The authorities in Cameroon also discovered two cases of Marburg virus on February 13 in the Ulamzi region on the border with Equatorial Guinea, according to a delegate from the public health sector in the region.
Cameroon has banned movement along the border in an attempt to avoid transmission.
