(Bloomberg) — Ivory Coast raised the alarm about the Marburg virus after neighboring Ghana this week reported the first outbreak of the highly infectious hemorrhagic disease in the West African nation.
The warning comes in response to a “high risk of spread,” Ivory Coast’s health ministry said in a statement. All suspected cases should be immediately flagged, authorities said, calling for careful sample collection and transit protocols.
So far, the outbreak in Ghana has included two unrelated patients who died after developing symptoms including diarrhea, fever, nausea and vomiting. They sought treatment at the same hospital within days of each other and the nature of their illness was confirmed by laboratory tests. Ivory Coast shares a largely unmonitored 447-mile (719 km) border with Ghana.
While the World Health Organization said it was supporting a national investigation team in Ghana, it was also alerting neighboring countries considered high-risk.
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