Two people suspected of having the potentially lethal Marburg virus have tested negative, according to a Thursday statement from the city of Hamburg's social welfare office. They traveled to Germany from Rwanda.

Two passengers with suspected cases of Marburg virus in Germany have tested negative for the highly contagious disease. The travellers – returning from Rwanda to Hamburg via Frankfurt – were taken for examination at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) on Wednesday (2 October).

There was considerable commotion at the Hamburg train station. At one point, one of the platforms was closed and completely isolated due to a justified fear that two passengers traveling by train had contracted the deadly Marburg virus in Africa.

Medical tests came back negative for two people in Hamburg feared to have the Marburg virus, the German authorities said on Thursday, a day after they were taken to hospital on fears they were infected with the life-threatening haemorrhagic fever.

Rwanda is battling its first-ever outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus, with 36 cases reported so far and 11 deaths. The World Health Organization said this week the risk of the outbreak is very high in Rwanda,

Has the Marburg virus appeared in Germany? A few days ago, the platform at Hamburg's main train station was closed due to suspicions that two passengers arriving from Rwanda might be infected. But what exactly is this virus,