Here is everything we know about a mysterious new killer virus
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A mysterious new virus has claimed five lives and left several others in hospital as scientists race to identify the cause. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is assisting medical professionals in Burundi, east Africa, as they tackle the devastating fatalities and 35 cases of infection.
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Health authorities are frantically working to diagnose the deadly illness after examinations for Ebola, Rift Valley fever, yellow fever and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever all returned negative results. Medical staff issued a health warning to close contacts of those infected on 31 March 2026. While testing remains ongoing, signs of the enigmatic disease include fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, blood in urine, exhaustion and stomach pain. Severe instances have also witnessed patients experiencing jaundice and anaemia.
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Burundi’s Minister of Health Dr Lydwine Badarahana said: “While it is reassuring that preliminary analysis is negative for these serious infections, further investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of the disease. All the necessary measures are being taken to safeguard public health and prevent potential spread of infection.”
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An elite team of specialists from the nation’s public health emergency operations centre and the national reference laboratory have been dispatched to solve the mysterious ailment. The WHO is also backing the field operations with disease surveillance, field investigation, clinical care, laboratory diagnosis, and infection prevention and control, reports Health Times.
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This comes as health officials across Europe remain on high alert following the diagnosis of a man with a high-risk strain of bird flu in Italy. The WHO has confirmed this marks the first occasion the A(H9N2) subtype has been brought into Europe, raising concerns about a possible fresh health emergency.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE: Deadly mystery virus kills five as others hospitalised with symptoms listed