On Thursday, Uganda confirmed an outbreak of the Ebola virus in its capital city Kampala, with the first confirmed patient dying from it a day before. As per the new developments, the officials are now preparing to deploy a trial vaccine to put an end to this outbreak.

Groups of scientists are working on the vaccine and deployment of more than 2,000 doses of a candidate vaccine against the Sudan strain of Ebola has been planned and confirmed by the Uganda Virus Research Institute. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), Uganda has access to 2,169 doses of trial vaccine. For now, however, there are no approved vaccines for the strain and officials are still investigating the source of the outbreak.

The WHO had also allocated $1 million from its contingency fund for emergencies to support quick action and contain the outbreak in the country.

Confirmed Case

On Wednesday, the Sudan strain of Ebola killed a nurse employed at Kampala's main referral hospital. It is after his death that Ebola was declared an outbreak in the country. Post-mortem samples too have confirmed the Sudan Ebola Virus Disease and at least 44 contacts of the deceased man have been listed for tracing. 30 of these are health workers.

Ebola is a highly infectious hemorrhagic fever, which is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and tissue. Symptoms include headache, vomiting of blood, muscle pains and bleeding.

it was in the late 2022, when Uganda had last suffered an Ebola outbreak. It killed 55 of the 143 people who were infected and was declared over on January 11, 2023.

What Is Ebola Virus Disease?

As per the WHO, Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a rare but severe illness in humans and is often fatal. People can get infected with the virus if they touch an infected animal when preparing food, or touch body fluids of an infected person such as saliva, urine, faeces or semen, or things that have body fluids of an infected person like clothes or sheets.

How Does Transmission Work?

Ebola enters the body through cuts in the skin or when one is touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Early symptoms include fever, fatigue and headache.

It was first discovered in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreak, when in Nzara, South Sudan and other in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo. The latter occurred near a village near the Ebola River, which is where it gets its name from.

It is highly infectious and transmissible disease, in fact, there have been cases of health-care workers who have frequently been infected while treating patients with suspected or confirmed Ebola. This occurs through close contact with patients when infection control precautions are not practiced strictly.

Cases of people conducted burial ceremonies, involving direct contact with the body of the deceased too can lead to the transmission of Ebola. Even after the long suffering and recovery, there is a possibility of sexual transmission. Pregnant women who get acute Ebola and recover may still carry the virus in their breastmilk, or in pregnancy related fluids and tissues.

Symptoms:

• feeling tired
• headache
• muscle and joint pain
• eye pain and vision problems
• weight gain
• belly pain and loss of appetite
• hair loss and skin problems
• trouble sleeping
• memory loss
• hearing loss
• depression and anxiety

India is moving closer to its goal of eliminating malaria by 2030. Between 2022 to 2025, 160 districts across the country reported zero indigenous malaria cases, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The country has also saw nearly 80% decline in malaria cases and deaths between 2015 and 2025. The number of districts with high malaria burden also went down from 155 to 33.

The latest figures were discussed at a review meeting chaired by Aradhana Patnaik, Additional Secretary and Mission Director, National Health Mission, with officials from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control (NCVBDC), states and affected districts.

160 Districts Reported Zero Malaria Cases In Last 3 Years

160 districts reported zero indigenous malaria cases from 2022 to 2025. This is significant as it suggests that local transmission was successfully interrupted in these regions.

But zero reported cases does not mean the risk has vanished completely. Malaria can return when mosquitoes, infected people or favourable environmental conditions fuel transmission. To avoid this, health authorities are vigilantly continuing surveillance even in areas that have made substantial progress.

The government said the reduction in numbers reflects the positive impact of focused malaria control and elimination initiatives and strategies. According to PIB, It including surveillance, early diagnosis, treatment and control measures for vector-borne infections.

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Strategies Needed For Malaria Elimination

Patnaik stressed that India cannot rely on a one-size-fits-all approach as it moves towards elimination. He said, “Focused, area-specific strategies and strengthened surveillance are essential to accelerate India’s progress towards malaria elimination by 2030.”

The Health Ministry has identified 33 high-burden districts across nine states and Union Territories for particularly intensive action. These districts accounted for 64% of India's malaria cases and 54% of malaria deaths in 2025.

The states and UTs reviewed included Mizoram, Odisha, Tripura, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

Despite the overall decline, malaria deaths continue to occur, and authorities highlighted that delays in diagnosis and treatment are the primary driving factors.

The government has asked states to strengthen the “Test, Treat and Track” strategy, improve active surveillance and ensure that diagnostic tests and anti-malarial medicines remain available, particularly in remote areas.

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The Real Challenge For India

Malaria is transmitted through the bite of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. The parasite enters the bloodstream and can cause fever, chills, headache and body aches. In severe cases, it can affect the brain and other organs and become life-threatening.

The challenge for India now is not simply reducing cases, but preventing malaria from coming back in districts where transmission has become zero.

Patnaik stressed, “Health interventions alone cannot address several factors contributing to malaria transmission, including water-logging, source reduction and environmental management.”

The government has therefore called for greater coordination with rural and urban development departments, Panchayati Raj institutions and local communities to identify breeding sites and report suspected cases early.

Myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the most common cardiovascular disorders, with an estimated prevalence of 3.8% in individuals aged less than 60 years and 9.5% in those aged over 60 years. MI remains a leading cause of death and is a significant public health concern worldwide.

But a heart attack isn't one single disease with one single mechanism. Being able to classify the type of myocardial infarction quickly can improve diagnosis and treatment.

In view of this, four major cardiac societies—the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the American Heart Association (AHA) and the World Heart Federation (WHF)—have jointly launched the Fifth Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction.

The Fifth Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction replaces numerical labels with three clinically meaningful categories.

The new approach aims to help healthcare professionals make more consistent diagnoses and enable patients to understand their condition better.

The new definition also aligns with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding, which captures statistics on the extent, causes and consequences of different diseases.

“People may think of an MI as a heart attack caused by a blocked coronary artery but there are many different causes of MI,” explained ESC Chair, Professor Nicholas Mills from the University of Edinburgh, UK.

“The previous universal definition used a numerical system to categorize the different types of MI but this was not always easy to apply in clinical practice, leading to inconsistencies in diagnosis and treatment. The ESC, ACC, AHA and WHF have worked together to devise an updated and simplified classification system for MI, which aims to address these limitations.”

What Does the Fifth UDMI Mean?

The Fifth Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction updates the classification to better reflect underlying pathophysiology, align with the clinical evaluation of patients, and incorporate objective diagnostic criteria.

Notably, it could facilitate wider study of less common mechanisms of primary MI, such as spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), a condition occurring predominantly in women that is currently underdiagnosed.

What Are the 3 New Heart Attack Categories?

The new system considers the underlying cause of MI and aligns the diagnosis with established approaches to clinical evaluation. It recognises that MI occurs in three clinical settings: primary MI, secondary MI and procedure-related MI.

In this updated approach to MI classification, all MIs fit into one of these three clinical categories, and the new document outlines the diagnostic tests and investigations required for each.

1. Primary MI

Primary MI arises spontaneously due to an acute problem in a coronary artery. It is most commonly caused by a rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque, but there are other causes, such as a tear in the coronary wall (spontaneous coronary artery dissection [SCAD]), spasm or a clot.

2. Secondary MI

Secondary MI arises from an imbalance in oxygen supply and demand in the heart caused by another condition, such as very high or very low blood pressure or a very fast heartbeat.

3. Procedure-Related MI

The third setting—procedure-related MI—is one that occurs within 30 days of a cardiac procedure, such as coronary stenting, or a heart operation, such as coronary artery bypass surgery.

“Clinicians often do not use the previous numerical terminology—e.g. type 2 or type 4c—in patient discussions as it is rather complex. With the new approach, we can now talk with patients about the cause of their MI so that they can understand their condition and recognize why the next steps, such as further tests and treatments, are needed,” said ACC/AHA Chair, Professor Kristin Newby from Duke University Medical Center, Durham, US.

A new artificial intelligence tool could turn a routine heart test into an effective early warning system for serious cardiac emergencies. Doctors have developed an AI tool for analysing an electrocardiogram (ECG). It could study ECG in less than two seconds and identify signs of heart valve disease that may not be visible to the trained human eye.

Developed by researchers at Imperial College London, the AI tool was trained on millions of ECGs and presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2026 in Munich.

In a human trial involving around 67,000 US patients, it was able to detect signs of heart valve disease with up to an astonishing 90% accuracy and heart failure with up to 81% accuracy.

How Can An ECG Reveal A Valve Problem?

A standard ECG records the heart's electrical activity. Traditionally, it has been used to identify heart problems like irregular heart rhythms, but these electrical patterns, according to researchers, can contain signs about the heart's overall structure and function.

The AI looks for patterns across the ECG that may be too complex or subtle for a clinician to recognise visually.

That means the machine isn't simply reading the obvious peaks and dips on an ECG. It is looking for hidden patterns buried within the electrical signal.

Researchers say this could allow routine ECGs, which are already performed millions of times, to flag people who may have an underlying structural heart problem.

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AI Tool Delivered Accurate Results Within Two Seconds

The results are particularly striking for heart valve disease as the AI tool achieved accuracy of up to 90% in identifying cases.

Heart valve disease occurs when one or more of the heart's valves become narrowed or fail to close properly. This can disrupt the normal flow of blood through the heart.

Some people may have few or no symptoms initially. As the disease progresses, however, it can cause breathlessness, fatigue, chest discomfort, dizziness and swelling, and severe disease can eventually lead to heart failure.

A patient suspected of a heart emergency often requires an ECG, an ultrasound scan that allows doctors to see the heart's chambers and valves. Waiting times for such tests can be long, meaning some patients may remain undiagnosed. The AI could therefore work as a effective tool, identifying people who should be prioritised for echocardiogram.

The AI can analyse an ECG in under two seconds, compared to the much longer process of patients being referred for additional cardiac tests.

Dr Ahmed El-Medany, the British Heart Foundation clinical research fellow who led the Imperial College London analysis, described the tool as a "superhuman AI". The phrase has become shorthand for the project. He also said the next challenge is designing portable AI-based ECG readers.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, consultant cardiologist and BHF clinical director, said she found it exciting to see AI deliver results from an ECG in "what feels like the blink of an eye."

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The technology is being developed as an extra layer of screening. A positive AI result would not mean that someone definitely has heart valve disease. Instead, it could signal that the patient needs a more definitive investigation, such as an echocardiogram.

Heart disease can remain hidden for years before symptoms become obvious. A routine ECG is already a familiar, relatively quick and inexpensive test. If AI can study additional data from that same test, it could help doctors in identifying people who otherwise might not have been investigated and treated further.