NINE people have died after testing positive for one of world's most lethal diseases in Equatorial Guinea.
The Marburg virus, which is similar to Ebola, causes those who catch it, to bleed to death.
It's the first time the nasty bug, which has a mortality rate of 90 per cent, has been found in the central African country.
Health authorities are now scrambling to contain the virus, which sixteen people in the region have already tested positive for, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced.
The country has as quarantined more than 200 people and has restricted movement, Health Minister Mitoha Ondo'o Ayekaba has said.
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Two neighbouring countries, Cameroon and Gabon, have also restricted movement along their borders.
Local health officials initially raised the alarm on February 7, after a mystery illness causing haemorrhagic fever killed several people in Kie Ntem.
Preliminary investigations revealed Marburg virus was to blame.
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said: “Marburg is highly infectious. Thanks to the rapid and decisive action by the Equatorial Guinean authorities in confirming the disease, emergency response can get to full steam quickly so that we save lives and halt the virus as soon as possible."
Many who catch the disease develop severe internal bleeding within a week, with blood from the nose, gums, vagina and in vomit and faeces, and die not long after.
The virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats, and it can spread between humans through direct contact with bodily fluids, surfaces and materials, the WHO said.
No treatment or vaccine exists for Marburg
In 2014-16 the largest outbreak of Ebola since 1970 began in Guinea.
Cases were recorded in Nigeria, the US, UK, Spain and Italy.
There were 28,616 suspected, probable and confirmed cases in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and 11,310 deaths.
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There have been a dozen major Marburg outbreaks since it was discovered in Marburg, Germany, in 1967.
Cases have mostly been in southern and eastern Africa, including Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, WHO said.
