Health authorities in Chad have announced a set of new measures to prevent the importation of the Marburg virus to the country after a Central African state confirmed its first case.

Among them, is the compulsory check on all passengers arriving from Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea where the disease has killed at least nine people.

Chad is enforcing these measures despite Cameroon denying the reports of the virus on its territory.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Health is creating a joint team to assess the country’s capacities in response and control as well as strengthening case-by-case surveillance against the disease at the country’s entry points.

Surveillance systems at the N’Djamena airport for all passengers from Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the other countries in the Cemac zone will be heightened.

Transmitted through saliva, sexual intercourse, breastfeeding and contact with an infected person Marburg disease is highly contagious and virulent.

It has already caused several deaths in Equatorial Guinea, which shares its border with Cameroon.