There is no cure for Ebola

A trader from Angola died in hospital after showing signs of the disease, the pro-government Sunday Mail reported.

The article quoted the health minister and a senior medical official as confirming the incident on Friday.

The doctors immediately isolated the trader because Ebola is a highly contagious disease.

The man had reportedly arrived in Zimbabwe from Angola via Namibia and Botswana.

Specimen samples have been taken and sent to a South African laboratory for tests.

"At the moment it is only a suspected case and we will only know the cause of the death when we get laboratory test results from South Africa," Health Minister David Parirenyatwa was quoted as saying.

Health service strained

If confirmed, it would be Zimbabwe's first case of the deadly virus.

Ebola causes high fever, diarrhoea and bleeding from the nose and gums, and can induce massive internal haemorrhages.

It is spread through direct contact with body fluids of an infected person and is thought to be contracted by humans when they eat the flesh of infected animals.

There is no known cure for the virus which kills up to 90% of infected people.

A recent outbreak of the disease left 29 dead in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which borders Angola.

The virus was first discovered in DR Congo in 1976.

There is concern that if there was an Ebola outbreak in Zimbabwe, the country's embattled health service may be unable to cope.