Officials previously questioned whether the deadly disease was indeed present in the African country, which had seen 8 suspected Marburg deaths.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported a suspected outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) in the Kagera region of northwestern Tanzania, with nine people reportedly infected, of whom eight have died.

An outbreak of Marburg virus disease has been confirmed in Tanzania in the northwestern Kagera region following investigations and laboratory analysis of suspected cases. President Samia Suluhu Hassan said that one sample had tested positive for the Marburg virus in a remote area of northern Tanzania.

Marburg virus is a close cousin of Ebola, causing similar symptoms and spreading in the same way. It can cause death in up to 88% of infected people.

Tanzania's government said no-one in the country had tested positive for the Marburg virus after the World Health Organization (WHO) said at least eight people in the northwest were believed to have died from it.

In March 2023, Tanzania reported its first Marburg virus outbreak, which also occurred in Kagera region. The outbreak was declared over in June 2023, with nine infections reported, six of them fatal. The WHO said zoonotic reservoirs of the virus, such as fruit bats, remain in the area.

Tanzania's president said a sample tested positive for the Marburg virus, which has a fatality rate of up to 88 percent if untreated.

Tanzania's president has announced an outbreak of Marburg virus, an Ebola-like virus, just a week after her health minister denied that there were any cases in the country. President Samia Suluhu Hassan said at a press conference on Monday that health authorities had confirmed one case of Marburg in the north-western region of Kagera.