Marburg Virus Disease: The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Ghana's first outbreak of the Ebola-like Marburg virus disease after labs confirmed the infections in two cases announced earlier this month.

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The disease, a very infectious hemorrhagic fever in the same family as Ebola, is spread to people by fruit bats and transmitted among people through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected people and surfaces, WHO said.

On Friday, the west-african country of Ghana had reported two confirmed cases of Marburg virus disease (MVD).

The Ghana Health Service (GHS), in a statement, said that confirmation came after samples from suspected infected individuals sent to the Institute Pasteur in Dakar (IPD) tested positive for MVD.

With assistance from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the samples were forwarded to the IPD for further confirmation.

According to WHO, the first case was a 26-year-old male who checked into a hospital on June 26 and died on June 27. The second was a 51-year-old male who went to the hospital on June 28 and died the same day. WHO also added that both men sought treatment at the same hospital.

"So far, 98 contacts have been identified, including those from the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District of the Savannah Region," the GHS statement said.

"They are undergoing quarantine and being monitored by the Ashanti and Savannah regional health directorates of the GHS," it said, adding that no new cases have been reported since.

The MVD, a rare but severe hemorrhaging fever, is caused by the Marburg virus and could lead to death.

The disease previously occurred in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Uganda, and Kenya, according to the WHO.

With inputs from PTI and IANS