Diseases & Outbreaks News and Discussions

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WHO head tells countries to prepare for more hantavirus cases

Source: The Guardian

The head of the World Health Organization has told countries to prepare for more hantavirus cases after the outbreak onboard the MV Hondius, and thanked Spain for the “compassion and solidarity” it had shown by taking in the stricken cruise ship and evacuating its passengers and crew.

“At the moment, there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak, but of course the situation could change and, given the long incubation period of the virus, it’s possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks,” he told a press conference in Madrid on Tuesday.

“We would expect more cases because, as you may remember, the index case – the first case in the ship was on 6 April … [and] there was a lot of interaction, actually, with the passengers. And as you know, the incubation period is also six to eight weeks.

“So because of the interaction while they were still in the ship – especially before they started taking some infectious prevention measures – because of the interaction, we would expect more cases because of some of what happened during the travel.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/ ... irus-cases

[Lilymoon]

French hantavirus patient is critically ill as outbreak grows to 11

A French woman infected in the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship is critically ill and being treated with an artificial lung, a doctor at the Paris hospital caring for the sickened passenger said Tuesday. The outbreak has now reached 11 total reported cases, 9 of which have been confirmed.

https://www.npr.org/2026/05/13/nx-s1-58 ... ically-ill

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[wjfox]

^ Death toll now at 88, with 336 suspected cases. Already the deadliest Ebola outbreak since 2020.

This particular strain has no approved vaccines or therapeutics.

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[wjfox]

US says American contracted Ebola in Congo as CDC announces new travel screening measures

Mon 18 May 2026 19.48 BST

US health authorities confirmed on Monday that an American has developed Ebola after being exposed during their work in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); officials also said that they were taking “proactive measures” to protect US citizens in response to the ongoing Ebola virus epidemic in the DRC and Uganda.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the case on Monday and said the individual was being evacuated to Germany. They developed symptoms over the weekend and tested positive late Sunday, said Satish K Pillai, an incident manager for the CDC’s Ebola response in a press conference.

There are also six other people who are in the process of being evacuated, to receive treatment or monitoring, Pillai said. There are about 25 people working in the US office in DRC, and the CDC is sending another person from Atlanta, Georgia.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... ngo-uganda

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[wjfox]

Vaccine to tackle Ebola outbreak will take six to nine months, says WHO

Wed 20 May 2026 13.17 BST

Doses of the “most promising” potential vaccine against the Bundibugyo virus that is causing an Ebola outbreak in central Africa will not be available for six to nine months, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, as the number of suspected cases rose to 600.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, told a press briefing on the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, that there had been 139 deaths, with numbers expected to rise.

Officials said they believe the disease may have started its spread “a couple of months ago”, aided by a “super-spreader event”, possibly a funeral, in early May.

The security situation in Ituri province, where more than 100,000 people have been displaced in recent months because of armed conflict, had complicated detection efforts, Tedros said. Health facilities could not provide care or surveillance for disease outbreaks if health workers were fleeing, he said.

Other illnesses endemic to the region, such as malaria and typhoid, have the same early symptoms as Ebola which can also delay diagnosis, he added.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/ ... months-who

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[wjfox]

Well, this definitely isn't good...