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.

Cancer death rates among American men and women declined from 2019 to 2023, continuing a downward trend that has lasted more than 20 years, according to a new CDC report.

The 2026 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, published in the journal Cancer, found that the continued decline in cancer mortality was driven largely by sustained progress against lung cancer.

“Cancer incidence was stable among males but increased slowly among females. Cancer mortality continued to decline, largely because of sustained progress against lung cancer,” the report said.

Cancer Death Rates Continue To Fall

The overall cancer death rate during 2019–2023 was 145.4 per 100,000. It was higher among males (171.5 per 100,000) than females (126.3 per 100,000)

Cancer death rates decreased among males and females of every race and ethnicity. From 2004 to 2023, the cancer death rate declined by:

• 1.6%–2.1% per year among males

• 1.1%–1.8% per year among females

Between 2019 and 2023, death rates among males decreased for 12 of the 18 most common cancers, remained stable for four and increased for two.

Among females, death rates decreased for 12 of the 19 most common cancers, remained stable for three and increased for four. The largest declines were seen in lung cancer and myeloma.

Lung Cancer Progress Drives Decline

Lung cancer recorded the largest decline in cancer mortality between 2019 and 2023:

• Males: 4.7% decline per year

• Females: 3.0% decline per year

Lung cancer incidence also decreased between 2018 and 2022:

• Males: 3.5% decline per year

• Females: 1.9% decline per year

Researchers attributed the progress partly to:

• A roughly 50% decline in smoking since the early 2000s

• A two-thirds increase in early-stage lung cancer diagnoses

• A doubling of the five-year relative survival rate for lung cancer

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women in the United States. It is also the second most commonly diagnosed cancer among men, after prostate cancer, and among women, after breast cancer.

Cancer Incidence Trends

While cancer mortality continued to decline, incidence trends were different.

Overall cancer incidence rates were 504.6 per 100,000 among males and 443.0 among females during 2018–2019 and 2021–2022. The year 2020 was excluded because of pandemic-related diagnostic delays.

Incidence rates:

• Remained stable among males from 2013 to 2022

• Increased 0.4% per year among females from 2011 to 2022

Among males, stable overall incidence was driven by a decline in lung cancer, which offset an increase in prostate cancer.

Incidence decreased for cancers of the:

• Larynx

• Bladder

• Liver

• Non-Hodgkin lymphoma

• Colorectal cancer

• Thyroid

• Brain and other nervous system

Rates increased for cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx and pancreas, while rates for seven of the 18 most common cancers remained stable.

Prostate cancer incidence increased while lung cancer incidence decreased among males across every race and ethnicity. Colorectal cancer incidence decreased among White males but remained stable among other males.

Breast And Prostate Cancer Drive New Cases

The report also examined trends in new U.S. cancer cases from 2003 to 2022. Overall cancer incidence rose slightly each year from 2018 to 2022, driven by increases in breast cancer among women and prostate cancer among men.

Breast and prostate cancer remained the most commonly diagnosed cancers among women and men, respectively.

Despite the increase in prostate cancer, the overall rate of new cancer cases among men remained stable.

The report also noted that continued progress in cancer prevention and control will depend on tobacco-free environments, preventive care, screening, timely diagnosis, state-of-the-art treatment and survivorship care.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has updated its contraception guidance, recommending mifepristone as an additional emergency contraception option and providing new guidance on contraceptive pills and implants.

The recommendations aim to expand access and give people more flexibility in choosing and using contraception.

“Choice is a gender equality issue,” said Pascale Allotey, Director of WHO’s Department of Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing.

“Contraception isn't one-size-fits-all. Men and women both need a range of options that reflect what science and innovation can now offer, weighed against convenience, invasiveness, behavior, reliability and accessibility. Real choice means the confidence and control to choose a method, change it, or stop it.”

What’s New In The WHO Guidance?

The guideline covers five areas: three contraceptive methods not previously included in WHO guidance and two changes to existing contraceptive practices.

These include:

• Mifepristone: Recommended as an additional emergency contraception option.
• Ormeloxifene: WHO suggests against adding it because more high-quality safety and efficacy evidence is needed.
• Quinestrol-containing pills: WHO recommends against adding the specified combinations, citing limited evidence and the need for safety monitoring.
• Combined oral contraceptive pills: Can be used for extended periods of up to six months or continuously for up to one year, alongside cyclical use.
• Etonogestrel implants: Can be used for up to five years, in line with the updated manufacturer-approved duration.

Mifepristone For Emergency Contraception

WHO recommends a 10–50 mg single dose of mifepristone for emergency contraception, taken as soon as possible and within five days of unprotected sex. A 10–25 mg dose may be preferred where available.

Ormeloxifene And Quinestrol

• WHO suggests against ormeloxifene due to insufficient safety and efficacy evidence.
• It also recommends against quinestrol-quingestanol and quinestrol-norgestrel, and suggests against quinestrol-levonorgestrel. Safety monitoring is advised where quinestrol products are used.

Longer Use Of Pills And Implants

• Combined oral contraceptive pills can be used for up to six months in extended regimens or continuously for up to one year.
• WHO also supports etonogestrel implants for up to five years, potentially reducing replacement procedures and clinic visits.

Why Contraceptive Access Matters

The number of women of reproductive age using modern contraception rose 87% between 1990 and 2022, from 467 million to 874 million. Yet an estimated 164 million women who want to delay or avoid pregnancy are not using contraception and have an unmet need for family planning.

WHO says expanding access must go hand in hand with identifying methods that lack sufficient evidence for wider use.

WHO Pushes For More Male Contraceptive Choices

Men currently have relatively few contraceptive methods under their control, mainly condoms, withdrawal and vasectomy. Still, around 30% of couples rely on a male method.

A new global study in Contraception found that more than 75% of couples surveyed would be willing to use a new male contraceptive, while more than 85% of women said they would trust their male partners to take responsibility for contraception.

The WHO also developed its first Target Product Profile for male contraceptive methods, outlining desired characteristics such as safety, effectiveness, acceptability and affordability.

Several hormonal and non-hormonal male contraceptives are in development, with some candidates in advanced clinical trials. New reversible male contraceptives could potentially reach the market within the next five to 10 years, according to WHO.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is actively expanding Ebola treatment capacity as the country battles its worst and fastest-growing Ebola outbreak. But a growing shortage of health workers is threatening the ability to run the new treatment centres and contain and manage transmission and infections.

According to the latest figures by Congolese authorities on September 23, the outbreak has across into seven provinces, with 7,773 confirmed cases and 3,759 deaths. The WHO says transmission remains out of control, even though cases are going down in some areas.

The situation is particularly grim in North Kivu, where cases increased by 73% over three weeks. At the same time, cases fell by 26% in Ituri and 15% in Haut-Uele between August 31 and September 20, highlighting how differently the outbreak is behaving across provinces.

More Treatment Centres May Not Be Enough

The country has rapidly increased its capacity to treat patients. By September 1, affected provinces had 59 facilities with 1,346 beds, compared with just one nine-bed treatment centre when the response began in May. More than 4,000 additional health workers had also been deployed.

But beds and buildings can only help if there are enough people to staff them. According to WHO officials, an Ebola treatment centre can require around 300 healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, anaesthetists and hygiene staff. Some newly established centres therefore do not have enough personnel to operate at full capacity.

This creates a difficult situation of treatment infrastructure being expanded, but the workforce needed to run it is not keeping pace.

Also read: DR Congo Begins Ebola Vaccinations Targeting 20,000 Health Workers As Fatalities Cross 3,500

Ebola Pressure On Health Workers

Ebola treatment is particularly laborious as healthcare workers must provide intensive care while following strict infection-prevention measures.

Patients may require monitoring for dehydration, bleeding and other complications, while staff must work in protective equipment and follow procedures designed to prevent transmission.

The response has also been impacted by insecurity, population displacement, movement between communities and a strike by some health workers over unpaid wages. These factors can make it harder to maintain staffing.

Early treatment is key as many patients are still reaching healthcare facilities late. WHO previously reported that around 60% of weekly Ebola deaths were occurring in communities rather than treatment centres, pointing to delays in detection and access to care.

Also read: Ebola Transmission Falls In Some Areas Of Congo, But Outbreak Still Kills: WHO

Early Treatment Is Important

Ebola can cause fever, weakness, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, bleeding and organ failure. The longer a severely ill patient remains without appropriate supportive care, the harder the disease can be to manage. Treatment centres help isolate infectious patients helps break transmission chains.

Children are another major concern in the current outbreak. Nearly one in four confirmed cases are children, but they account for almost one in three deaths. Children under five have been particularly vulnerable as more than 60% of confirmed cases in this age group resulting in death, compared to fewer than 30% among adults, according to WHO.

Developments In Vaccine & Treatment So Far

The outbreak has been identified as being caused by Bundibugyo virus, one of the viruses in the Ebola family. WHO reported a case fatality ratio of 48.3% among confirmed cases in the DRC as of September 7.

There is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment for Bundibugyo ebolavirus, which means, health officials are completely relying on breaking transmission chain and providing prompt medical care to control the spread.

But the latest unfortunate developments point to a problem that could make containment even more challenging. The response desperately needs enough trained people, supplies and access to affected communities.

As there is currently no vaccine for Bundibugyo virus, health authorities have approved 70,000 doses of Ervebo, vaccine meant for a much familiar Zaire strain of Ebola. Health workers in DRC have begun receiving the Ervebo doses as part of an experimental trial to test if it would work on current Ebola outbreak.