Ghana Confirms Its First Outbreak of Highly Infectious Marburg Virus

Doctor Mark Katz, a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO), takes an oral sample from patient Feliciana suspected of having Marburg haemorrhagic fever in Kinguangua, near Uige, on May 6, 2005.Christopher Black/WHO/AFP via Getty Images

DAKAR—Ghana has officially confirmed two cases of the Marburg virus, a highly infectious disease similar to Ebola, its health service said on Sunday, after two people who later died tested positive for the virus earlier this month.

Tests conducted in Ghana came back positive on July 10, but the results had to be verified by a laboratory in Senegal for the cases to be considered confirmed, according to the World Health Organization.