Three people confirmed to have contracted the Marburg virus have died, while another three deaths are suspected to be linked to the highly contagious haemorrhagic disease, Ethiopia's health ministry said on Monday.

The announcement follows Ethiopia's confirmation of an outbreak of Marburg, a highly contagious and haemorrhagic infection in a town in the country's Southern Ethiopia Region on Friday, with at least five cases identified.

"The Ethiopian Public Health Institute's reference laboratory has confirmed that three... have died from the virus," the ministry said in a statement. It added that an additional three fatalities are being investigated for a possible connection to the disease.

The ministry did not provide a new overall case count but said 129 people who were in contact with confirmed cases had been isolated and are being monitored.

Marburg, from the same virus family as Ebola, often presents with severe headaches and leads to haemorrhaging.

Previous outbreaks in Africa have resulted in fatality rates as high as 80% or more, typically within eight to nine days of symptom onset.

The infection is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids such as saliva and blood, or by handling infected wild animals such as monkeys.