Tanzania has pushed back against a report from the World Health Organization warning of a new Marburg virus outbreak in the country.

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania's government said no-one in the country had tested positive for the Marburg virus after the World Health Organization (WHO) said at least eight people in the northwest were believed to have died from it.

Tanzania has dismissed a World Health Organisation (WHO) report of a suspected new outbreak of the Ebola-like Marburg virus in the north-west of the country. On Tuesday, the global health agency said a total of nine suspected cases were reported over the last five days in the Kagera region, including eight deaths.

Tanzanian authorities deny Marburg virus presence after WHO reports deaths, with laboratory tests returning negative.

Following a World Health Organization (WHO) alert 2 days ago about a suspected Marburg virus outbreak in Tanzania, the country's health ministry said yesterday that tests on collected samples were negative for the disease. The WHO had based its alert on reliable in-country sources.

Nine cases of the deadly disease have been reported in the Kagera region of Tanzania so far. But officials expect that number to rise.

Marburg virus is a close cousin of Ebola, causing similar symptoms and spreading in the same way. It can cause death in up to 88% of infected people.

The World Health Organization says an outbreak of suspected Marburg disease has killed eight people in a remote part of northern Tanzania