Kigali, RWANDA — Rwanda says eight people have died so far from the Ebola-like and highly contagious Marburg virus, just days after the country declared an outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic fever that has no authorized vaccine or treatment. Like Ebola, the Marburg virus originates in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact … Read more
Boar’s Head, the deli meat company at the center of a deadly listeria food poisoning outbreak, is being scrutinized by law enforcement officials, the U.S. Agriculture Department disclosed in response to government records requests. Officials with USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service refused to share documents regarding the agency’s inspections and enforcement at the Boar’s … Read more
CAIRO — New fighting rocked Sudan’s capital on Thursday, as the death toll rapidly increased from the country’s worsening cholera outbreak, officials and Sudanese media said. Sudan’s military launched an operation in the early hours of Thursday aimed at taking control of areas in the capital that had been in the hands of its enemy, … Read more
DAKAR, Senegal — The global vaccine alliance Gavi will buy 500,000 doses of mpox vaccine to battle outbreaks of the disease in African countries, the organization said on Wednesday. The vaccine doses — manufactured by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic — will be available this year, Gavi said, without giving any specific dates. Gavi said … Read more
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Scientists in South Africa say they have identified an outbreak of rabies in seals that is believed to be the first time the virus has spread in sea mammals. At least 24 Cape fur seals that were found dead or euthanized in various locations on South Africa’s west and south … Read more
NAIROBI, Kenya — Rwanda has started a vaccination campaign against mpox with 1,000 doses of the vaccine it obtained from Nigeria under an agreement between the two countries, the African health agency said Thursday. The vaccinations started Tuesday targeting seven districts with “high risk populations” who neighbor Congo, Dr. Nicaise Ndembi from the Africa Centres … Read more
KAVUMU, Congo — Health authorities have struggled to contain outbreaks of mpox in Congo, a huge central African country where a myriad of existing problems makes stemming the spread particularly hard. Last month, the World Health Organization declared the outbreaks in Congo and about a dozen other African countries a global health emergency. And in … Read more
KAMITUGA, Congo — Slumped on the ground over a mound of dirt, Divine Wisoba pulled weeds from her daughter’s grave. The 1-month-old died from mpox in eastern Congo in August, but Wisoba, 21, was too traumatized to attend the funeral. In her first visit to the cemetery, she wept into her shirt for the child … Read more
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Taliban have suspended polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, the U.N. said Monday. Afghanistan is one of two countries in which the spread of the potentially fatal, paralyzing disease has never been stopped. The other is Pakistan. News of the suspension was relayed to U.N. agencies right before the September … Read more
DAKAR, Senegal — The Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization launched on Friday a continent-wide response plan to the outbreak of mpox, three weeks after WHO declared outbreaks in 12 African countries a global emergency. The estimated budget for the six-month plan is almost $600 million, with 55% allocated … Read more
