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.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an immediate recall of contaminated Rosabella brand moringa powder capsules that are tied to an outbreak of drug-resistant Salmonella infections, causing fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

This is the second Salmonella outbreak related to moringa powder in the past six months. However, the two cases are not related, the CDC said.

In its latest alert issued in February 2026, the CDC reported seven cases, including three hospitalizations, from seven states linked to Rosabella brand moringa powder capsules.

The agency noted that the capsules distributed by Ambrosia Brands LLC, which is based in the US, are contaminated with Salmonella Newport and have led to one case each in states including Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, and Washington.

"CDC, public health and regulatory officials in several states, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are collecting different types of data to investigate a multistate outbreak of multidrug-resistant Salmonella Newport infections,” the CDC said.

"Epidemiologic data show that Rosabella brand moringa powder capsules may be contaminated with Salmonella Newport and may be making people sick,” it added.

What The CDC Investigation Found

The median age of the affected patients is 66 years, and 86 percent are females.

The public health officials also conducted a whole-genome sequencing of the seven samples.

The tests revealed that the Salmonella strain associated with this outbreak is resistant to all first-line and alternative antibiotics commonly recommended for the treatment of Salmonella infections.

"This strain also might be resistant to multiple β-lactam antibiotics, including meropenem and other carbapenems, because it carries an NDM-1 carbapenemase gene," the CDC said.

As Salmonella illnesses may not be treatable with commonly recommended antibiotics, the CDC advised to "tailor antibiotic treatment to antimicrobial susceptibility testing results when possible".

Issuing a recall, the CDC stated the capsules are sold on the company's website, Amazon, TikTok Shop, Shein, and eBay.

"If you have any of these capsules in your home, throw them out or return them. CDC and FDA continue to work to identify if there are other products causing illness in this outbreak,” the regulator said.

In January, the regulator had reported an investigation of a Salmonella outbreak linked to dietary supplements containing moringa leaf powder.

What Is The Salmonella Infection?

Food contamination with Salmonella -- an organism -- can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

The CDC noted that in rare cases, the organism can get into the bloodstream and produce more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis, and arthritis.

Salmonella Newport, detected in the recent outbreak, is a serious, often multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterium causing human and animal illnesses. It also ranks among the top three Salmonella serotypes in US foodborne outbreaks.

Noida administration has launched a 10-day measles-rubella (MMR) vaccination drive with an aim to cover students from Classes 1 to 5 across government and private schools. UP State Health Department officials noted that the sessions are also being conducted within the school premises under this campaign to ensure a wider vaccination coverage and ease of access for students and parents.

The initiative is part of the state government's ongoing efforts to strengthen immunity against measles and rubella. It is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects children.

Under the Measles-Rubella elimination campaign, the Central government aims to reach 100 per cent immunization coverage by ensuring children receive both doses of the vaccine. According to the 2024–25 Health Management Information System, India’s MMR coverage is currently 93.7 per cent for the first dose and 92.2 per cent for the second.

“The objective is to ensure that no eligible child is left out. Children will be administered an additional dose of the MR vaccine during the campaign. The vaccine is safe and is being provided for free of cost,” Dr Narendra Kumar, Chief Medical Officer of Gautam Buddha Nagar, told the media persons.

What Is Measles?

Measles is a highly contagious disease. It spreads by coughs or sneezes or by touching things that someone with measles has coughed or sneezed on.

Measles, also known as rubeola, is an extremely contagious viral illness that typically causes high fever, cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes, and a characteristic rash that begins on the face and spreads downward across the body. It spreads through respiratory droplets and can lead to severe and sometimes fatal complications, including pneumonia and inflammation of the brain known as encephalitis.

Symptoms include high fever, sore or red and watery eyes, coughing, sneezing, and small white spots in the mouth.

What Are The Symptoms Of Measles

Measles has a high transmissibility, and high measles immunity levels are required to prevent sustained measles virus transmission.

This is why herd immunity for measles could be easily breached.

It easily spreads from one infected person to another through breathes, coughs or sneezes and could cause severe disease, complications, and even death.

Symptoms include:

• High fever
• Cough
• Runny Nose
• Rash all over the body

The most unique symptom or the early sign of measles in the Koplik spots. These are tiny white dots that look like grains of salt on red gums inside the cheeks that appear before the red rash starts to appear on a person's face and then the body.

Read: Measles Outbreak In UK: Virus Spreads Among Unvaccinated Children In London

Furthermore, the symptoms of measles are also characterized by the three Cs:

• Cough
• Coryza or runny nose
• Conjunctivitis or red and water eyes

How Long Does The Infection Last?

The progression of the symptom comes in two stages, first is the prodromal stage or Days 1 to 4, where one would notice high fever, cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes, sore throat, fatigue, and Koplik spots.

The second stage is called the rash stage or the days 5 to 10 or even more where rash start to appear on the hairline, and then it runs down the body. It lasts for several days and fades in the same order.

The first symptoms, notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), appear 7 to 14 days after a measles infection. Often, it could also lead to ear infection, or even diarrhea. Though these complications happen in every 1 in 10 children or individual with measles.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued new guidance urging veterinary drug makers to define the duration of antibiotic use in livestock.

The February 2026 guidance, published by the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), aims to mitigate the development of antimicrobial resistance and protect public health. It is consistent with previous recommendations by the federal agency that promoted the judicious use of medically important antimicrobial drugs in animals.

The FDA said that the guidance is intended for sponsors of approved new animal drug applications (NADAs) and abbreviated new animal drug applications (ANADAs) containing antimicrobial drugs.

The guidance provides recommendations on how to add duration limits to medically important antibiotics used in or on the medicated feed of food-producing animals.

"The framework outlined in this guidance is intended to facilitate voluntary changes to have all medically important antimicrobial new animal drugs administered in alignment with the principles of judicious use,” the FDA said.

"This guidance provides specific recommendations on how sponsors may facilitate changes to the approved conditions of use of affected products in support of ongoing efforts to mitigate the development of antimicrobial resistance,” it added.

The New FDA Recommendations

Currently, no limit has been set for the approved treatment in food-producing animals. As a result, farmers can use the antibiotics in animal feed for extended periods of time.

The proposed guidelines for “appropriately defined duration of use” labelling will ensure that the drug is used only when animals need it.

The regulator also called the industry to “revise the labeling to include appropriate criteria regarding when to begin and end feeding of the antimicrobial drug.”

The nonbinding guidance also suggests sponsors avoid instructions like “feed until market weight” to define the duration of use.

"The scope of this guidance is limited to those drugs that are approved for use in or on animal feed because all the approved uses of medically important antimicrobial drugs in other (non-feed) dosage forms already have appropriately defined durations of use," the FDA said.

Why Misuse of Antibiotics In Animals Is A Concern

Antibiotic use in livestock and poultry globally is intended to treat, control, and prevent bacterial infections.

However, their overuse and misuse in food-animal production threaten both animal and human health. It is because these promote the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

AMR in livestock is a major driver of the 700,000 to over 1 million annual human deaths linked to drug-resistant infections globally.

With roughly 70 per cent of global antibiotics used in agriculture, this misuse contributes to food-borne resistant pathogens and is projected to drive up to 10 million annual human deaths by 2050, as per the World Organisation for Animal Health.

FDA On Antibiotic Use In Livestock

The 2017 guidance issued by the FDA limited the over-the-counter use of medically important antibiotics on livestock.

It also required a prescription and veterinary oversight for all antibiotic use.

Later in 2018, the CVM called for all antibiotics used in the feed and drinking water of food -producing animals to have “an appropriately targeted duration of use”.