UN health agency coordinating global responses to public health emergencies
WHO warns Gaza faces a surge in acute respiratory infections as cold weather, flooding and overcrowding heighten risks; aid deliveries are hampered by access constraints amid a widely reported ceasefire line. The situation risks a public health disaster without rapid action.
The measles outbreak is spreading within the United States, with Pennsylvania reporting over 1,200 cases and dozens of hospitalizations as vaccination rates remain below the level needed to halt transmission. Public health authorities are deploying resources and monitoring the evolving situation, while vaccination clinics seek to reach hesitant communities.
Indonesia’s intense forest and peatland fires persist as El Niño drives drought, triggering cross-border haze that harms air quality and public health across Southeast Asia. Regional governments deploy firefighting personnel and aircraft while communities demand accountability and action to stop the cycle of fires and costs.
The UK has threatened a total visa ban on Eritrean nationals unless Eritrea accepts the return of people the UK says have no right to remain, including foreign national offenders. Ministers have already suspended fast-track visas for Eritrean VIPs and restricted diplomats' travel outside London. Eritrea has refused to engage under threat and says it will only discuss returns after proper dialogue.
The Congo Ebola response has seen $962 million in donor funds disbursed since the outbreak began, but only about $200 million is accounted for on the ground. Authorities say operations have been restricted, with accreditation limited to 25 of nearly 100 organizations, and an investigation into missing funds is underway.
A joint international statement warns of worsening hunger in Sudan and Afghanistan. Sudan’s conflict and drought, compounded by El Niño, have left millions at risk of famine. In Afghanistan, more than 19 million people face food insecurity this winter, with children at high risk of malnutrition unless aid increases.
Health officials say the Ebola outbreak, which began in the Congo, has spread to Uganda and Kenya. Kenya has reported its ninth case, with quarantines expanding as authorities push containment measures. The Congo outbreak remains the largest on record with thousands dead and tens of thousands affected. Vaccines are in trials but not yet available.
The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak has spread beyond the DRC, with Nigeria reporting a confirmed case in Abuja and Kenya recording a ninth case. Uganda and Kenya are intensifying contact tracing and containment efforts across multiple regions as the outbreak becomes the most geographically widespread in history.
Nigeria has confirmed a new Ebola case in Abuja, with a Ugandan-born woman who travelled via Kampala and Addis Ababa having tested positive. Kenya reports nine infections and a fatality as investigators trace potential links and a wider outbreak across East Africa. Authorities are tracing contacts and seeking the source of infection while genomic sequencing is under way.
French authorities have reported the first recognised human infection with Shamonda virus in a severely immunocompromised patient who died in early October. The virus has been detected in livestock across 14 European territories since summer and is spread by biting midges; officials say no health risk to the general population has been identified.
In Gaza, a woman awaiting cancer treatment has faced delays due to war, shortages, and blockade. Her surgery was postponed by Israeli attacks around Khan Younis, and chemotherapy supplies were scarce. A private CT scan costs more than she can afford, delaying diagnosis and care for months while she endures escalating pain.
Nigeria has isolated two suspected Ebola cases in the northeast and is carrying out contact identification, listing and laboratory testing, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has said. The cases follow an imported Bundibugyo infection confirmed in Abuja on 23 October in a Swiss national; she and her husband have been evacuated to Switzerland. Today is Tue, 03 Nov 2026 05:59:28 +0000.
Taiz remains encircled by Houthi forces, with road links to Aden blocked and UN agencies warning of dwindling water, fuel and food. More than 800,000 people in Taiz are cut off from aid, while hospitals report critical shortages as aid deliveries become increasingly difficult.
The UN General Assembly has approved a resolution condemning the US embargo on Cuba by 130 votes to 17, with 25 abstentions. The vote has taken place as the Trump administration is intensifying economic pressure, including an effective fuel blockade that has caused widespread blackouts and shortages in Cuba, and US officials have openly discussed military options and covert engagement with dissidents.
Health workers have faced renewed violence while responding to the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak. An attack in Bafwasende injures a nurse and the response teams receive heightened security support as cases rise across four African countries. WHO and UN officials urge safe, dignified work for responders as Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda report cases and the outbreak spreads to eight provinces.
Kenya has confirmed nine Ebola cases linked to an initial patient who travelled from the DRC. Authorities say there is no evidence of wider community transmission, and quarantine measures have been maintained while contact tracing continues.
The Lancet Countdown shows health harms from climate change have grown since the Paris Agreement. Heat-related deaths rose globally, with 2023 linked to 710,000 deaths and drought affecting half the world’s land in 2025. Clean energy investment rose, but fossil fuels still dominate energy supply. Experts call for placing health at the centre of climate decisions ahead of Cop31.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has demanded a prompt, independent and transparent investigation into the death of Mohammed El-Shami, a UN Human Rights Office staffer detained by Houthi authorities since June 2024. The UN says 70 current and former staff remain in detention; more than a month has passed since his death was confirmed, with his family not informed of the cause.
Sudan’s humanitarian agencies warn that urgent funding is depleting critical shelter stocks, with three in four displaced people being women and children. In Yemen, sieges and blocked roads have left hundreds of thousands without access to shelter, food, and medicine as aid delivery narrows to a fraction of needs.
Kenya has identified 135 contacts from the initial Ebola case and has traced and quarantined 118; nine cases have been confirmed with two deaths. Authorities say the outbreak is contained within a single transmission cluster and no new infections have been recorded since Oct. 19. Discharges are planned for contacts after completing 21 days of monitoring.
WHO says attacks on civilians in Amhara and Tigray, including a newborn, have strained hospitals and disrupted lifesaving care. Renewed fighting threatens to push the region toward collapse and risk wider destabilization.
A drive-by attack in Mohmand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, injures a police officer as officers guard vaccination teams local to a polio campaign; militants remain active in the region. Abductions of polio workers in Tank are also reported; government vows action as nationwide vaccination continues in parallel with security concerns.
Polio infections have been confirmed in two children in Syria’s Mayadin area. Health authorities are expanding vaccination campaigns, increasing surveillance, and mobilising teams to vaccinate children who missed routine immunisations. A second vaccination round will be launched next week, with support from WHO and UNICEF, as efforts intensify to prevent further transmission.
A British health worker has been evacuated to a high-level isolation unit in London after testing positive for Ebola linked to the DR Congo outbreak. UK authorities say the public remains at low risk as protocols are activated and treatment proceeds at the Royal Free Hospital.
Mumbai’s citywide air quality index has surged to 379, in the “very poor” range, with PM2.5 levels around 277—over 18 times the WHO’s 24-hour guideline. The spike marks a reversal from October’s cleaner air, driven by a combination of weather patterns and pollutant sources.
A child burn patient in Gaza risks worsening scars as MSF-supplied 3D-printed masks, essential for preventing facial contractures, can no longer be produced due to Israeli import restrictions on dual-use plastics and printer materials. MSF reports stockouts and delays in obtaining raw materials, while WHO and Euro-Med Monitor warn that amputee rehabilitation and pediatric care are collapsing under blockade.
The Bundibugyo-strain Ebola outbreak has spread beyond initial epicenters, with cases reported across East, Central and West Africa. Authorities say the outbreak remains serious and is not under control as vaccines enter clinical trials in early 2027. The WHO reports thousands of recoveries but warns containment remains challenging amid delayed detection and strained health systems.
The United States is facing a worsening measles outbreak, with more than 5,400 cases nationwide and several states reporting deaths. Pennsylvania remains hardest hit, while New York and Wisconsin have reported fatalities in this ongoing public health crisis. CDC debates death classifications amid diverging state figures.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo faces the largest and deadliest Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak on record, with more than 11,000 cases and over 5,000 deaths since May. Attacks on health workers, facilities, and communities are complicating containment. WHO and MSF are warning that cholera looms as insecurity persists in Ituri, North Kivu, and Bunia.
An ongoing measles outbreak has led to multiple deaths in Wisconsin, New York, and Pennsylvania this week, with CDC tallies reaching the highest level since 1991. Officials warn that underreporting and vaccine hesitancy are shaping the crisis, as health authorities prepare for further developments.
Lewis Hamilton has visited Egypt’s Rafah crossing and Egyptian Red Crescent warehouses in El Arish to see how aid for Gaza is prepared and coordinated. He has said aid supplies are waiting at the border, that many shipments face delays or rejection, and called for Israel to allow agreed volumes of relief into Gaza.
Kenya has discharged the last Ebola patient and will begin a 42-day countdown to being declared Ebola-free, with no confirmed community transmission detected among contacts. Authorities say all 135 identified contacts have been monitored.
A midnight Israeli strike on the Al-Yassin building's surgical ward at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis has killed six people, including surgeon Rizk Abu Shaira, and injured dozens. The attack shields the department from functioning hospitals amid Gaza’s medical crisis, with authorities warning of broader consequences for care shortages.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak has surpassed 11,000 confirmed cases and 5,000 deaths. Frontline responders report unpaid staff, fuel shortages, and supply gaps as attacks on health facilities complicate containment. WHO and MSF warn that resources have not translated into ground relief, while experts estimate ongoing transmission in rural areas.