DAR ES SALAAM, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Laboratory tests have revealed that a strange illness that killed five people in northwestern Tanzania last week was caused by the Marburg virus, health authorities said late Tuesday.
Minister for Health Ummy Mwalimu told a news conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's commercial hub, that the viral disease has so far killed five people, and three others have been admitted to a hospital undergoing treatment.
Mwalimu said the disease has been reported in the Maruku and Kanyangereko wards in the Bukoba rural district of the Kagera region.
She said the ministry was monitoring the outbreak of the disease in the Bukoba rural district, and urged people to take precautionary measures against the viral disease.
The minister said symptoms of Marburg viral disease included fever and massive hemorrhaging. People experiencing such symptoms should report to health centers without delay for treatment. ■