Tanzania investigates mysterious illness that killed three

Tanzania has sent a team of doctors and health experts to the country's southeast to investigate a mysterious disease that has killed three people.

The disease, whose symptoms include nosebleeds, fever, headaches and fatigue, was detected in the Lindi region, the government's chief medical officer, Aifello Sichalwe, said on Wednesday.

"The government has formed a team of professionals who are still investigating the unknown disease," Sichalwe said in a statement, calling on residents to remain calm.

A total of 13 cases of patients have been detected, three of whom have died.

Mr Sichalwe added that the patients tested negative for Ebola, Marburg virus and Covid-19. One of them has recovered while the others are in isolation.

Ghana last week detected two suspected cases of Marburg virus, a haemorrhagic fever almost as deadly as Ebola.

On Tuesday, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan told a religious gathering that the "strange" disease detected in Lindi could have been caused by "increasing interactions" between humans and animals due to environmental degradation.