Tanzania on Monday declared an outbreak of Marburg virus disease in the Kagera region in the north-west of the country, after investigations and laboratory tests on suspected cases confirmed that one person was infected with the virus.

This was announced in a joint press statement by the President of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, and the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in the capital, Dodoma.

Laboratory tests carried out at the Kabyle Mobile Laboratory in Kagera, and subsequently confirmed by tests in Dar es Salaam, showed that one patient tested positive for Marburg virus,” said President Suluhu Hassan. Fortunately, the other suspected cases tested negative,’ said President Suluhu Hassan.