Two Germans who had returned from Rwanda were placed in isolation as they were suspected of having been infected with the deadly Marburg hemorrhagic fever. Tests show that this was not the case.
The two had just returned to Germany from Rwanda and were on a train between Frankfurt and Hamburg when one of them, a woman, began to feel slightly unwell and developed flu-like symptoms.
Since she had worked at a hospital in Rwanda where Marburg-infected patients were being treated, she raised the alarm. Medical personnel met them at the platform in Hamburg and took them to the hospital for isolation and testing. Both tested negative, according to reports from Tagesschau, among others.
The woman and the man will, however, remain in the hospital for observation for some time longer.
Marburg resembles Ebola and has a mortality rate of up to 88 percent. The disease progresses rapidly and suddenly, with high fever, severe headache, and nausea. In a later stage, the infected person may start bleeding in the skin and internal organs.
