(Adds Uganda task force, paragraphs 7-9) GENEVA, Aug 2 (Reuters) - The deadly Marburg haemorrhagic fever has broken out in a mining community in western Uganda, killing one person and possibly infecting four others, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday. The Kitaka mine, located in Kamwenge district some 250 km (155 miles) west of the capital Kampala, has been shut down temporarily, WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said. The rare but highly fatal disease, caused by a virus from the same family as the one that causes Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is transmitted by close contact with blood or other body fluids and can cause bleeding from multiple orifices. "We have one confirmed case of death from Marburg haemorrhagic fever plus up to four rumoured or suspected cases," Hartl said. The confirmed case was a 29-year-old miner who died on July 14 after accompanying another sick miner in an ambulance to hospital from a local clinic, he said. His laboratory results were only received this week. The sick miner, 21, was discharged from hospital after recovering. Tests have not yet confirmed if he had been infected with Marburg fever, but it was strongly suspected, Hartl said. Dr Sam Okware, head of Uganda's national task force for haemorrhagic viruses, played down the risk. "There was just one confirmed case of Marburg, the one who died, and one suspected case -- he recovered from a fever, but we have no confirmation it was the virus," Okware told Reuters. Local residents would be told to stay where they were for 21 days, he said, which was enough time to complete two cycles of the virus, which takes up to 10 days to kill. "No one in the area is supposed to leave their villages," he said. "By the end of next week, if there are no further cases, I would be quite comfortable that the virus has been contained." A WHO official in Uganda was helping the health ministry, which has deployed a rapid response team. Officials have been tracing contacts of the sick men and carrying out public awareness campaigns in the area. There is no vaccine or specific treatment for Marburg disease, which begins abruptly with severe headache and fever followed by rapid debilitation. Severe diarrhoea, abdominal pain and vomiting begin about the third day, and in fatal cases, death occurs eight to nine days after the onset of symptoms. (Additional reporting by Tim Cocks in Kampala)
