A West Africa man has died after contracting the Marburg virus, which causes internal bleeding and organ failure. The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the man's death on
August 9 and said the "highly infectious disease" has the potential to "spread far and wide." This marks the first time the Marburg virus has ever been detected in Guinea, per the WHO.
According to the WHO, the man visited a local clinic to seek treatment, but his condition deteriorated quickly before his death. Researchers at Guinea's national hemorrhagic fever laboratory and the Institute Pasteur
in Senegal have confirmed the man's Marburg virus diagnosis. The WHO said the virus can be passed to people from fruit bats and is transmitted from one person to another through surfaces and bodily fluids.