Marburg virus: What Canadians need to know about fears spread in Germany – National [Video]

German emergency personnel in full protective gear shut down two railroad tracks at Hamburg’s central station on Wednesday after two passengers were suspected of having contracted the deadly Marburg virus.

A 26-year-old medical student and his girlfriend developed flu-like symptoms while on a train from Frankfurt, according to local reports. The train was evacuated after health authorities suspected they had contracted the Marburg virus — a rare disease that has a fatality rate as high as 88 per cent.

The suspicion arose because the student had recently arrived by plane from Rwanda, where he had been in contact with a patient later diagnosed with the virus, local media reported. The passengers later tested negative for the deadly and contagious virus.

But the emergency response raises the question: what if it had been Marburg?

Rwanda is currently grappling with an outbreak that began Sept. 27. According to the health ministry, the death toll has …