The death toll from Tanzania’s Marburg virus outbreak has increased to nine, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) announced on Thursday. This marks a rise from the eight suspected deaths previously reported by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Tanzania confirmed its second outbreak of the deadly virus on Monday, following a 2023 outbreak that claimed six lives. However, the government has not officially updated fatality figures from this latest outbreak.

In a weekly briefing, Africa CDC revealed that 10 cases of Marburg have been recorded, with nine fatalities. “This reflects the very high case fatality of Marburg,” said Ngashi Ngongo, Africa CDC’s chief of staff.

Teams, including experts who recently helped combat an outbreak in neighboring Rwanda, are already working on the ground to control the spread. According to Africa CDC, approximately 281 individuals who had contact with confirmed cases are being monitored.

“There have been 31 tests conducted, with two confirmed cases and 29 negative results,” Ngongo stated.

Tanzania has submitted a $10.8 million response plan and is awaiting additional support from Africa CDC and other partners to implement its measures against the outbreak.

The announcement follows WHO’s declaration last month of the end of a three-month Marburg outbreak in Rwanda, which killed 15 people.

Marburg virus causes a highly infectious hemorrhagic fever, characterized by severe bleeding and organ failure. It is transmitted from fruit bats and is part of the same virus family as Ebola. The disease has an extremely high fatality rate, often reaching up to 90%.

Channelstv