WHO sends team to E Guinea over Marburg concern

The World Health Organization says it’s sending teams of trained contact tracers to eastern Equatorial Guinea to try to contain an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus.

More than 4,000 people have been placed in lockdown in Kie Ntem province following the deaths of nine people and a further 16 suspected cases.

The WHO has been holding an emergency meeting of its Marburg team in Geneva.

Haemorrhagic fever is from the same family of diseases as ebola, but no vaccine has yet been developed.

The virus’s natural host is the African fruit bat, which can pass the virus to primates.