After mpox outbreak, Africa is under the threat of yet another virus outbreak, this is the Marburg virus outbreak in Rwanda. So far, six people have died from the outbreak, confirmed the health minister. Most victims were the healthcare workers in the hospital's intensive care unit. As per reports, 20 cases have been identified since the outbreak was confirmed on Friday.

What Is Marbug Virus?

With the fatality rate of 8% it is the same virus family as Ebola. The main carrier is from fruit bats which spreads to humans then through the contact of bodily fluids of infected individuals, it spreads to others.

Common Signs And Symptoms

The common signs and symptoms of the Marburg virus include fever, pain, diarrhoea, vomiting and in the case of extreme blood loss, death too can happen.

So far, there is no specific treatment or vaccine for the virus. However, treatments like drugs and immune therapy are being developed as per the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Call Of Action

Rwanda says that it has intensified its contact tracing, surveillance and testing to contain the spread. It has also tracked about 300 people who had come into contact with individuals affected by the Marburg virus.

The health minister has urged people to stay vigilant and avoid any physical contact and to wash their hands with clean water, soap or sanitiser and report any suspected case.

As of now, most of the cases have spread to the capital in Kigali. In light of this, the US Embassy in the city has advised its employees to work remotely for the next week.

This is the first time Rwanda has confirmed for Marburg cases, before this, in 2023, Tanzania confirmed the outbreak, whereas three people had died of this in Uganda in 2017.

History Of Marburg

As per WHO, this virus kills half of the people it infects. In the previous outbreaks, it has killed between 24% to 88% of the patients.

The virus was first detected in 1976 after 31 people were infected, out of which 7 died in simultaneous outbreak in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany, and Belgrade in Serbia.

The source was traced to African green monkeys who were imported from Uganda. However, other animals too are linked to the virus spread, including bats.

In the past, the virus outbreaks have happened in countries like Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. In 2005, this virus killed 300 people in Angola.

However, for the rest of the world, only two people have died from the virus in the rest of the world, with one of them being in Europe, and the other in the US. These both have been on expeditions to caves in Uganda.

Another day when Delhi again woke up to thick layer of smog, with the city's average AQI at 414. The PM2.5 levels are at 395.47, PM10 at 363.7, and the air quality falls under 'Hazardous'.

Amid all this, even the Supreme Court has directed advocates to choose virtual hearings over appearing in person in courts. While Delhi continues to battle with toxic fog, doctors are calling it a public health emergency, and urging people to follow measures to keep themselves safe. One such set of measures are given by Dr Ashok Seth, Padma Bhushan Awardee and Chairman of Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, as reported by PTI. Dr Seth suggests five essential steps for people to reduce the damage from the toxic air.

Five-Step Protection From Delhi's Toxic Air

Limit Going Outdoors

The PM 2.5 concentration in Delhi is 53.6 times the World Health Organization (WHO)'s annual PM2.5 guideline value. This pollutant is so small that it can enter from one's blood into the blood stream and could cause damage to every organ, points out Dr Sandeep Nayar, Principal Director and HOD, Chest and Respiratory Diseases at BLK Max Super Specialty Hospital in Delhi. To be safe from these pollutants, Dr Seth suggests to limit outdoor exposure.

“Step one: go out as little as possible. And if you absolutely must step out, do so only with an N95 mask, the same kind we all used during COVID. These masks significantly reduce the intake of PM2.5 particles.”

Get Vaccinated

Dr Seth says that elderly, heart patient, and other vulnerable people, who may have any comorbidities must get vaccinated against pneumonia and common viral infections. "If you are elderly, a heart patient, or otherwise vulnerable, make sure you’re vaccinated against pneumonia and common viral infections. Chest infections rise tremendously during this season, and vaccination offers vital protection," he notes.

Do Not Go For Your Morning Walks Or Exercise

"Avoid exercising outdoors entirely," says Dr Seth. "Whether it’s cycling, using a static bike, or doing yoga, keep all your workouts indoors for now.”

Use An Air Purifier

Dr Seth suggests that keeping an air purifier could help you breathe cleaner air. "If it is within your means, keep at least one air purifier at home so the air you breathe indoors is cleaner and safer.”

Indoor Plants

"Grow green plants inside your home. Plants naturally help purify the air and increase oxygen levels," suggests Dr Seth. In fact, a NASA study also notes that certain plants could help improve indoor air quality. These plants with the help of their leaves and roots remove trace levels of toxic vapors from inside sealed buildings, notes the study.

Some of these plants that improve indoor air quality include:

• Snake Plant
• Spider Plant
• Peace Lily
• English Ivy
• Areca Palm

Lastly, Dr Seth reminds that eating the right food, and maintaining a balanced diet is utmost important to build one's immunity against pollution. As he says, "Most importantly, stay positive, eat healthy, drink plenty of water, and build your immunity, these small habits go a long way during heavily polluted months.”

A new study published in the Science Translational Medicine has revealed a connection between the virus called the pstein-Barr virus (EBV), a pathogen silently carried by almost 95% of adults with systemic lupus rythematosus, better known as lupus.

This Stanford-led research shows that EBV could highjack a tiny subset of immune cells and push the body into a full-blown autoimmune attack. It uses ultraprecise sequencing technique to do so, which scientists have finally been able to tract down in the infected immune cells and have been able to uncover how just a handful of them could lead to widespread inflammation. As per the researchers, the mechanism could explained virtually all lupus cases.

Why Lupus Has Been So Hard to Explain

Lupus impact is severe as it affects hundred thousand Americans, and has an estimate of 5 million people being affected with this worldwide. It is a chronic autoimmune disorder in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the nuclei of the body's own cells, and leads to damage across organs. These organs include anywhere from skin, joints, to heart, kidneys, and even the nervous system.

A reason that continues to remain mysterious is why 90% of lupus patients are women. While medications can slow the disease and help most people live normal lives, the condition can be life-threatening for about 5% of patients. Despite decades of research, scientists have struggled to pinpoint a single trigger. EBV has always been a suspect, but until now, no one had the tools to prove it.

You May Have The Virus That Triggers Lupus

Despite the devastating truth about lupus, almost everyone has EBV, the virus that could trigger it. It is so common that even one researcher joked that the only way to avoid is be living "in a bubble".

How does it spread? EBV usually spreads through saliva, by sharing utensils as kids, or kissing. It can cause mononucleosis, the classic “kissing disease,” which often leaves people with lingering fatigue.

What makes this tricky is that once EBV infects you, it never fully leaves. It is like herpes or chickenpox viruses, which could tuck its genetic material into the nuclei of infected cells and lies dormant, sometimes, throughout life. Among its favorite hiding spots are B cells, powerful immune cells responsible for producing antibodies and activating other parts of the immune system.

Typically, only a tiny fraction of someone’s B cells carry EBV, making them nearly impossible to detect with older scientific tools.

What Does This Breakthrough May Mean For Finding These EBV Inside Rogue B Cells?

Using their new high-precision sequencing method, the Stanford team discovered that in a healthy person, fewer than 1 in 10,000 B cells carry EBV. But in patients with lupus, the ratio jumps dramatically to 1 in 400—a 25-fold increase.

This matters because EBV-infected B cells occasionally produce an important viral protein called EBNA2. EBNA2 behaves like a genetic on-switch. It activates dormant human genes, many of which are involved in inflammation. Once switched on, these B cells turn into aggressive, hyper-inflammatory antigen-presenting cells. They, in turn, rally other immune cells, especially helper T cells, to join the attack.

Those T cells then recruit hundreds of other B cells that mistakenly target the nuclei of healthy cells. The result? A runaway chain reaction that leads to the formation of antinuclear antibodies, the hallmark of lupus.

Critically, most of the B cells joining the attack are not EBV-infected. But once the inflammatory cascade begins, EBV need not be present in every cell. It only needs a few instigators.

Do Everyone With EBV Get Lupus?

While nearly all of us has EBV, only some people develop autoimmune diseases. This could be because certain EBV strains may be more likely to convert B cells into the 'driver cells' that would kick-start autoimmunity. Genetics too plays an important role in how someone's immune system responds to these infected cells.

This new finding therefore just does not offers a broader understanding of lupus, but also opens doors for treatment strategies. Many biotech companies are already developing EBV vaccines, though these would need to be given in early infancy because vaccines cannot clear an existing infection.

There’s also interest in aggressive therapies like ultradeep B-cell depletion, which aims to wipe out all circulating B cells and allow new, EBV-free cells to grow back.

Researchers say the same EBV-triggered mechanism may play a role in other autoimmune conditions, including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and Crohn’s disease.

November 14 is the World Diabetes Day. The day is observed to raise awareness around the rising number in diabetes cases, as well as the increase in children with diabetes. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that diabetes can impact people across all life stages, and the impact is in millions.

World Diabetes Day Theme 2025

This is the reason why, this year's World Diabetes Day theme is also 'Diabetes Across Life Stages'.

This theme recognize the gravity of this condition's impact across all life stages, including childhood, reproductive years, working age, and older adulthood. The theme also helps to bring attention to the need for everyone's access to integrated care, supportive environments and policies that promote health, dignity, and self management.

The theme also targets the key messages, as notes WHO:

• Diabetes can affect people at every stage of life;
• From childhood to older age, diabetes prevention and care efforts must be integrated across life stages; and
• Supporting well-being and self-care empowers people with diabetes at every age.

Origin Of World Diabetes Day

This was first established in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the WHO in response to the growing global concern about diabetes and its health impact. It later gained recognition as an official United Nations health day in 2006, symbolizing a united global commitment to raise awareness, improve access to care, and support research and prevention efforts.

This day also marks the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, one of the scientists who discovered insulin in 1921. This was a medical breakthrough that transformed diabetes from a fatal illness into a manageable condition.

Read More: Diabetes No Longer A Disease Of Aging; Four Things Youth Should Know About It, According To Doctor

Significance Of World Diabetes Day

Not only does this day work towards awareness of this chronic condition, but it also works towards its awareness. For instance, in 2022, the WHO Member States endorsed a 5 global diabetes coverage targets that was to be achieved by 2023:

• 80% of people with diabetes are diagnosed;
• 80% of people with diagnosed diabetes have good control of glycaemia;
• 80% of people with diagnosed diabetes have good control of blood pressure;
• 60% of people with diabetes of 40 years or older receive statins; and
• 100% of people with type 1 diabetes have access to affordable insulin and blood glucose self-monitoring.

Furthermore, this day raises global awareness about the rising prevalence of diabetes, educates people on prevention and symptoms, and advocates for better access to diagnosis, treatment, and care. It serves as a major public health event to combat the disease, which is a leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, and stroke.

What Is Diabetes?

As per WHO, it is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood glucose.

Hyperglycaemia, also called raised blood glucose or raised blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to serious damage to many of the body's systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.

What Are The Common Symptoms Of Diabetes?

• feeling very thirsty
• needing to urinate more often than usual
• blurred vision
• feeling tired
• losing weight unintentionally
• Over time, diabetes can damage blood vessels in the heart, eyes, kidneys and nerves.
• People with diabetes have a higher risk of health problems including heart attack, stroke and kidney failure.
• Diabetes can cause permanent vision loss by damaging blood vessels in the eyes.