Tanzania's 'strange Ebola-like illness' kills three

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This undated transmission electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2, also known as novel coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the US.— Reuters
This undated transmission electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2, also known as novel coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the US.— Reuters 

  • Health officials are investigating disease which has affected 13 people.
  • Unique symptom is bleeding, especially from nose.
  • Tanzania's President thinks disease could have been spread due to interaction between humans and animals.


Three people in Tanzania have reportedly died from a "mysterious Ebola-like" illness, reported Daily Mail.

Authorities are calling the outbreak "strange" and health officials have been dispatched to investigate the disease, which has so far affected 13 people.

While most symptoms are like other viruses including fever, headaches, and fatigue, a unique symptom is bleeding, especially from the nose.

The virus that is known to cause such bleeding, namely Ebola, has never been recorded in Tanzania, even though neighbouring countries have.

However, these 13 Tanzanian patients have tested positive neither for Ebola nor for COVID.

Tanzania's chief medical officer Aifello Sichalwen reported that all the patients were being kept in isolation apart from the one who has fully recovered. 

He said that the government had formed a team which was investigating the mysterious diseases.

Samia Suluhu Hassan, Tanzania's President, thinks that the disease could have been spread due to the interaction between humans and animals.