A woman living in Nigeria who was infected with Ebola and her Swiss diplomat spouse have been admitted to hospitals in Switzerland, Swiss authorities say. She is being treated in Geneva, while her husband, a close contact with no symptoms, is isolated in Zurich. Swiss authorities say the situation poses no risk to public health in Switzerland. Nigeria's health minister says the woman is stable and her condition is improving. Investigators will travel to Nigeria to examine how she caught the virus, as she may have been infected in Uganda.
A measles outbreak has spread rapidly across rural Pennsylvania, with more than 1,300 cases and at least six deaths, including two infants. Authorities say none of the victims was vaccinated, and about one in five cases has required hospital care. Low vaccination rates in Amish communities, whose close-knit lifestyle and wariness of government advice have helped the virus travel quickly, remain the main obstacle. Health officials in Chester and Lancaster counties say many cases may go unreported. Vaccination clinics have administered thousands of doses.
Kenya has announced a second Ebola death, a 65-year-old woman who was a close relative of the first patient. She developed symptoms while in quarantine and died on Friday evening in Nairobi. Her family has been notified, and the health ministry will arrange a safe burial with relatives. Seven other Ebola patients are receiving treatment at two isolation facilities, and no new infections have been reported. In Nigeria, a woman who travelled from Uganda tested positive for the virus after returning to Abuja.
AU Now app
Your suburb’s news, alerts and Shorts — in one app
Alerts, Shorts and your saved stories — free on Google Play.
Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service is managing an outbreak of the contagious streptococcal A bacterial skin infection in the Injinoo community. The disease, which can lead to chronic kidney disease, has been eliminated in most of the country. Four cases of acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN) were detected in the Northern Peninsula Area. Screening will focus on children aged between 12 months and 16, who are most at risk. The health service advises prompt first aid for minor injuries, proper hygiene, and regular washing or swimming to prevent skin infections and APSGN kidney complications.
Nigeria has reported its first Ebola case in about a decade. A foreign woman living in the capital, Abuja, tested positive after arriving from Uganda. Officials say she is in isolation and receiving medical care. Health authorities are tracing 44 contacts, mostly healthcare workers and her husband, and passengers on her flights. Nigeria says it contained Ebola in 2014. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is battling a major outbreak, with more than 9000 cases and over 4000 deaths.
Kenya has confirmed an eighth Ebola case, a 49-year-old person who had been in quarantine after caring for the country's first patient. Health Ministry director-general Patrick Amoth said the country's first patient, who arrived from Congo via Uganda, died two days after arriving. Up to 128 contacts remain in quarantine and are being tested after developing symptoms. In Congo, the outbreak has killed at least 4,000 people since May and has reached an eighth province, with authorities in North Kivu announcing a one-week entry ban for people arriving from Ituri.
Ebola has spread to an eighth province in Congo's north. The Health Ministry has recorded two cases, including one death, in Nord-Ubangi province, which borders the Central African Republic. Both patients are men in their 20s. Authorities have recorded at least 9,400 cases and more than 4,500 deaths since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, making it the deadliest in Congo's history. North Kivu province will introduce a one-week ban on people entering from Ituri from Monday, along with limits on motorcycle and car passengers and suspended large gatherings.
Kenya has reported a second Ebola case, a 39-year-old man who is a close family member of the first patient. The health ministry said he was already in quarantine when he fell ill on Tuesday. Both cases are linked, the ministry said, and there is no evidence of spread in the wider community. Authorities are assessing anyone who has been in contact with him, including health workers and quarantine centre staff. The first case, a Kenyan man who had lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo, died in a Nairobi hospital about a week earlier.
Veterinarians are urging graziers in north Queensland to vaccinate their cattle as an unseasonal outbreak of bovine ephemeral fever, also known as three-day sickness, spreads. The virus has caused unusual deaths in cattle over 24 to 48 hours, with significant losses reported in Hughenden and Charters Towers. The outbreak is believed to have been spread by mosquitoes, and while there is no risk to humans, the severity of symptoms has raised concerns about a potential change in the virus.
Legionnaires' disease was named after American Legion veterans who fell ill at a 1976 meeting in Philadelphia. Researchers later identified the Legionella bacterium, which lives in soil and water. It becomes dangerous when it builds up in water cooling towers and is inhaled by vulnerable people. Australia's biggest outbreak occurred at Melbourne Aquarium in 2000, and cases are trending up in New South Wales and Victoria. Experts say the bacterium is very widespread and difficult to fully control.
A 39-year-old unvaccinated woman in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, has become the sixth person to die in a measles outbreak in the state. She died on Saturday, October 10, and had several underlying health conditions. The county coroner's office listed the primary cause of death as a probable acute cardiac event, possibly linked to measles complications. The five earlier deaths included two infants, an 18-year-old, a 20-year-old and a 40-year-old, all unvaccinated. As of October 9, the state had recorded 1,136 cases this year, with 218 people hospitalised. The outbreak now spans 41 of the state's 67 counties.
Pennsylvania's measles outbreak has surpassed 1,000 cases, the largest in the US since the disease was eliminated in 2000. Health officials reported 1,078 cases in 2026, with 1,066 linked to the current outbreak since April. There have been 207 hospitalisations and five deaths, all among unvaccinated individuals. Experts expect the US may lose its measles elimination status due to slipping vaccination rates.