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 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to worsen, with cases rising to 1,155 and deaths climbing to 304, as per the latest government data.

The figures represent the total confirmed cases as of June 24, according to a situation report which documented 37 new cases and five new deaths in the previous 24 hours. Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu remain the most affected provinces in Congo.

Experimental treatments

Also read: Ebola Outbreak: The Unique Symptoms Seen In Patients Infected With Bundibugyo

The US is now providing doses of an experimental Ebola treatment developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical for clinical trials in Congo.

The experimental therapy, known as MBP134, was developed by San Diego-based Mapp Biopharmaceutical. While the US had previously kept its stockpile for potential use in exposed American citizens, it is now making doses available to support clinical research in Congo. This is the first time Washington has publicly committed stockpiled supplies of the treatment for a broader international trial.

According to the World Health Organization, researchers will test MBP134 both on its own and alongside the antiviral drug remdesivir, marketed as Veklury. Remdesivir became widely known during the COVID-19 pandemic and is being evaluated to see whether it can improve outcomes when combined with the antibody treatment.

Ebola: Scientists Lack Access To Virus Samples

The ongoing outbreak is being driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain, for which no approved vaccine or treatment exists. However, scientists racing to develop vaccines and therapies are hampered by the lack of a viable sample of the virus.

“There’s nothing like having the authentic isolate,” said Thomas Geisbert, Professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, who helped develop previous Ebola vaccines, Bloomberg reported.

“Despite so many cases, the global scientific community has not obtained a clinical sample to isolate the virus for the needed animal challenge studies,” added Jennifer Serwanga, head of immunology at the Uganda Virus Research Institute, the report said.

Ebola: WHO Warns Spread to South Sudan

Further, as per a new WHO modelling study published in The Lancet, the growing Congo Ebola outbreak, which has already spread to Uganda, has a 70 per cent chance of reaching South Sudan soon.

The study combined epidemic modelling with spillover estimation to quantify regional risks associated with the 2026 Ituri outbreak using laboratory-confirmed case data from WHO Situation Reports (33 cases as of May 18, 2026, to 598 cases as of June 8, 2026), with projections extending 12 weeks from May 18 to Aug. 10, 2026. It also integrates operational preparedness considerations relevant for neighboring countries.

The report showed that even with the intensified response within DR Congo, uncertainty remains around reported case numbers due to the low rate of contact tracing.

“Sustained control nonetheless remains the primary determinant of regional risk: importation into Uganda is already established, and South Sudan must continue to reinforce infection prevention and control, rapid response capacity, and cross-border surveillance under International Health Regulations 2005,” said researchers from the WHO Regional Office for Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.

The report called for:

1. Enhanced surveillance at formal and informal points of entry to detect suspected cases early and prevent silent transmission.
2. Strengthen infection prevention and control (IPC) measures in front-line health facilities to reduce nosocomial transmission and protect health-care workers.
3. Train, equip, and pre-position rapid response teams for immediate deployment.

The United States is now providing doses of an experimental Ebola treatment developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical for clinical trials in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a growing outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain has infected more than 1,000 people and claimed over 250 lives. The decision marks a significant shift from the U.S. government's earlier stance, which limited access to the drug to Americans considered at high risk of exposure.

Health officials are racing to find effective ways to contain the outbreak, as there are currently no approved vaccines or treatments specifically designed for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. A small number of cases and deaths have also been reported in neighboring Uganda, raising concerns about the disease spreading further across the region.

The experimental therapy, known as MBP134, was developed by San Diego-based Mapp Biopharmaceutical. While the U.S. had previously kept its stockpile for potential use in exposed American citizens, it is now making doses available to support clinical research in Congo. This is the first time Washington has publicly committed stockpiled supplies of the treatment for a broader international trial.

According to the World Health Organization, researchers will test MBP134 both on its own and alongside the antiviral drug remdesivir, marketed as Veklury. Remdesivir became widely known during the COVID-19 pandemic and is being evaluated to see whether it can improve outcomes when combined with the antibody treatment.

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Ebola Situation In Western Africa

The confirmed cases in the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have reached the highest total ever recorded during the first month of an outbreak in Africa, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

As of June 22, confirmed Ebola cases in Congo had risen to 1,094 and deaths to 277, according to the DRC Ministry of Health. The WHO raised concerns about the rapid spread of the deadly virus and the challenges facing containment efforts.

“This is the largest number of confirmed cases in the first month of an Ebola disease outbreak in Africa,” said Dr Abdirahman Mahamud, Director, Health Emergency Alert and Response Operations at WHO, during a press briefing in Geneva.

"What is important is we need to scale up and this outbreak is moving faster than us," he told reporters after returning from Bunia last week.

Mahamud also noted signs of hope, highlighting a quick increase in the number of Ebola beds to over 500 in the past fortnight and signs that community resistance and violent resistance to Ebola responders was beginning to abate.

As of June 24, Uganda had recorded 20 confirmed Ebola cases, including two fatalities. The latest infection was identified on June 21, with no additional cases reported afterward. Of the confirmed infections, 15 were linked to travel from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while five resulted from local transmission. Among the nine cases with available location data, eight were detected in Kampala and one in the neighboring Wakiso District.

Chemotherapy is often considered the most challenging aspect of cancer treatment due to its wide range of side effects. However, new advances in targeted therapies may soon reduce the need for conventional chemotherapy for some breast cancer patients.

Two drugs developed by pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca and Gilead Sciences have shown encouraging results in treating triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), one of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat forms of the disease.

Triple-negative breast cancer lacks three key receptors commonly targeted by standard breast cancer therapies, making many conventional treatments ineffective.

In recent weeks, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved two targeted therapies—Datroway, developed by AstraZeneca in partnership with Daiichi Sankyo, and Trodelvy from Gilead Sciences—as first-line treatment options for certain patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer.

Why These Drugs Are Better Than Chemo?

Both Datroway and Trodelvy belong to a class of medicines known as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). These therapies use antibodies to identify proteins present on most triple-negative breast cancer cells and deliver a potent dose of chemotherapy directly to the tumor.

The approach is designed to minimize damage to healthy tissues compared with traditional chemotherapy, which affects rapidly dividing cells throughout the body. Clinical trials showed that both drugs reduced the risk of disease progression by about 40% compared with standard chemotherapy, Washington Post reported.

“For seven out of 10 patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who are not candidates for immunotherapy, chemotherapy has remained the only treatment option," said Arlene Brothers, Executive Director, Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, in a statement.

The new drugs for the first time, will pave the way "for these patients will have a new standard of care beyond traditional chemotherapy at the outset of their treatment.”

Efficacy of Trodelvy And Datroway

Gilead's approval is based on two clinical trials that evaluated how effectively Trodelvy delayed tumor growth. When used alone, Trodelvy reduced the risk of tumor progression or death by 38% compared with chemotherapy in patients who were not eligible for immunotherapy.

Among patients eligible for immunotherapy—approximately 30% of all triple-negative breast cancer cases—a combination of Trodelvy and Merck's Keytruda reduced the risk of tumor progression or death by 35%.

“For more than twenty years, patients with mTNBC have had limited choices in first-line treatment. Building on its impact in second-line mTNBC, Trodelvy now offers patients a powerful new backbone therapy option in the first-line setting,” said Dietmar Berger, Chief Medical Officer, Gilead Sciences, in a statement.

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In a separate clinical trial, AstraZeneca's Datroway reduced the risk of tumor progression or death by 43% compared with chemotherapy. The drug also extended median progression-free survival by five months.

“Datopotamab deruxtecan (brand name Datroway) is the first and only medicine to significantly prolong overall survival in the 1st-line setting compared to chemotherapy in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who are not candidates for immunotherapy. This approval will bring a much-needed treatment option for these patients,” said Tiffany A. Traina, Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Clinical Research Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, part of the study.

Burden Of Triple-negative Breast Cancer

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Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) represents about 10–15% of global breast cancer cases but accounts for a disproportionately high share of mortality. In 2025, more than 48,000 Americans were diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer.

The disease is known for its aggressive nature. On average, triple-negative breast cancer recurs or spreads within about 2½ years, compared with around five years for other forms of breast cancer. Additionally, nearly half of patients never receive a second line of treatment.

Both AstraZeneca and Gilead are now investigating their therapies in earlier stages of breast cancer.