A virus that killed 16 people and infected more than 50 others in Western Uganda has been confirmed as Ebola, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

Dr. Sam Zaramba, director general of health services said that laboratory tests in South Africa and the U.S. had confirmed the disease.

"The mysterious disease outbreak in Bundibugyo has now been confirmed to be Ebola disease," Dr. Zaramba said in a statement, according to Reuters.

Health officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that this is a very unusual type of Ebola as most patients died because of high fever and not so much bleeding.

"This virus didn't behave as would be expected of some of the known strains. That tipped us off that this is probably a novel or new strain of Ebola," Dr. Tom Ksiazek said in a telephone interview, according to Reuters.

Dr. Sam Okware, head of Uganda’s hemorrhagic fever task force said that the authorities have already isolated the cases but there is possible to be more cases of people having the virus. “There may be other people in those villages unknown to us," he said.

There is no known treatment for Ebola, which is fatal in around 80% of cases.

The disease manifest through high temperature, bloody diarrhea and visible hemorrhaging. It is possible that the virus is transmitted through the consumption of infected bush meat and it can also be spread by direct contact with the blood of infected people.

Uganda was last struck by an epidemic of Ebola back in 2000. About 425 people were diagnosed with it and more than a half of them died.

More than 1,000 people have died of Ebola since the virus was first identified in 1976 in Sudan and Congo, according to the World Health Organization.

Congo confronted with an outbreak of Ebola this year, which led to the infection of 264 people of whom 187 died, the WHO reported.

The government promised to handle the situation and prevent the epidemic from further spreading. "A response team is being strengthened to conduct contact tracing and public education ... All close contacts of the suspected cases are being closely followed up," Zaramba said.