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The CDC advised U.S. clinicians on Thursday to be on the lookout for suspected cases of the Marburg virus, a rare but fatal disease that has similarities to Ebola.

Why it matters: No cases of the virus have been reported in the U.S. and officials say the risk is low. But the two distinct outbreaks reported in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania this year raise the prospect of imported cases, they said.

• "It is important to systematically assess patients for the possibility of viral hemorrhagic fevers (including MVD or Ebola disease) through a triage and evaluation process, including a detailed travel history," they advised.
• Symptoms of the virus may include fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, gastrointestinal symptoms or unexplained bleeding, officials said. It's spread through contact with the blood or other body fluids of a person who is sick with or has died from the virus, or infected animals. It can also be spread through needles. It is not spread through airborne transmission.

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