A medical student who had been in contact with a patient later diagnosed with Marburg virus contacted authorities from a train "because he suspected something was wrong".

A fire department spokesman told the Bild tabloid that the man and his girlfriend had developed flu-like symptoms on a high-speed train from Frankfurt. The spokesman said they had come from abroad where they had been treating a man who went on to develop an infectious disease,

Parts of Hamburg’s main train station were cordoned off on Wednesday afternoon over two train passengers suspected of carrying the highly lethal Marburg virus.