Toddler dies of Marburg virus six days after his dad in new outbreak of Ebola-like disease
A TODDLER who contracted the highly deadly Marburg virus in Ghana has died, officials say.
Their 26-year-old dad also fell victim to the bug, which is similar to Ebola virus, days before.
A third patient - the 24-year-old mum - is in isolation and no longer showing symptoms.
In total, three cases of Marburg have been confirmed in Ghana, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
A statement from the Ghana Health Service said the outbreak began with the dad.
He became ill on June 22 and later bled from the nose and mouth. He was admitted to hospital on June 26, and died 28 hours later.
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The 14-month-old child was admitted unwell on July 17 and died on the third day.
Marburg virus causes symptoms including diarrhoea, fever, nausea and vomiting.
It has a mortality rate of 90 per cent, causing those with severe illness to bleed to death, much like Ebola virus.
Many develop severe internal bleeding within a week, with blood from the nose, gums, vagina and in vomit and faeces, and die not long after.
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The outbreak is the first registered by Ghana, and only the second in West Africa, after the first ever case of the virus in the region was detected last year in Guinea.
Experts were deployed by the WHO to contain the outbreak when it was reported by Ghananian authorities.
Initially, 118 contacts were traced down, tested and forced to isolate for 21 days, with a further 81 contacts later being identified.
The virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats.
It can spread between humans through direct contact with bodily fluids, surfaces and materials, the WHO said.
No treatment or vaccine exists for Marburg.
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There have been a dozen major Marburg outbreaks since it was discovered in Marburg, Germany, in 1967.
Cases have mostly been in southern and eastern Africa, including Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, WHO said.