According to a recent report on the situation in Angola, the death toll from the Marburg virus outbreak is now 292, out of the 336 known cases.

WHO spokesperson Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, in a phone interview with Reuters said, "We've seen new cases in new municipalities that don't have obvious links to earlier cases of Marburg. We are very concerned about the situation

A new type of bacterial meningitis is reigning supreme and has killed at least 15 people and probably infected over a 100 in Indian capital New Delhi, according to reports published in Indian media.

According to the statement issued by Indian government, new cases of Menigococcal disease had been reported in New Delhi. But at the same time, the government assured that there was no need for panic as "the disease could be treated with antibiotics and there was enough stock of medicine

World Health Organization (WHO) Officials in Angola fear that the outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus will get worse. The World Health Organisation says the cycle of the disease has not been broken, and it is not yet controlled. A joint statement from Angola's health ministry and the World Health Organisation (WHO) said an additional 513 people are under quarantine and surveillance with no new cases reported in other areas. We don't think that it is over," David Daigle of the WHO said.."The numbers are still going up." The Angolan health ministry feels the outbreak of Marburg Virus remains contained to the town of Uige in the country's northern district, helped by poor roads and isolation of the area. While people outside the town have contracted the disease, the Government says all had visited Uige, which is the epicentre of the outbreak. The virus has killed 235, said to be more deadly than Ebola. Most of the victims have been children. The Marburg vuris can kill a healthy person in a week, inducing bloody vomiting and diarrhoea, followed by severe fever. The disease is spread through contact with bodily fluids, such as sweat, saliva and blood. The disease is not treatable with any known drugs and an innoculation is not available

Officials in Vietnam, the country hit hardest by the bird flu epidemic, say they may not be able to contain the virus until 2007, because many experts are still baffled by the way it spreads. Health officials are uncertain how the virus spreads from waterfowl to poultry, and then to people. "There are cases where a healthy person carries the virus without showing clinical symptoms, which has made the risk of spreading the virus in the community greater," Deputy Health Minister Tran Chi Liem said. Since its arrival to Asia in late 2003, H5NI, has infected 71 Vietnamese and killed 36. Now, the World Health Organization fears the virus may mutate into a new form that would spread easier among people and cause a global pandemic in which millions would die. "If the virus changes, it will be the biggest global health crisis," said Hans Troedsson, the WHO representative in Vietnam, predicting "50 to 100 million deaths in the worst situation". Bird flu has killed 51 people in Asia - 36 Vietnamese, including 15 since December, 12 Thais and three Cambodians - since arriving in Asia in late 2003, brought probably by migrating wild fowl

The Angolan Ministry of Health has declared that the death toll from the epidemic of Marburg hemorrhagic fever has jumped to 233. A total 255 cases have been recorded until Saturday. The health ministry issued a press release stating that all the reported cases of the Ebola-like disease had originated in the northwestern province of Uige. However, reports of death is still pouring in from other parts such as Luanda, Zaire, Malange, Kuangza Norte, Kuanza South and Cabinda provinces. The World Health Organization, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Doctors Without Borders are having a tough time in bringing the situation under control. They have deployed teams in Uige to combat the spread of the deadly virus. Marburg is spread through contact with bodily fluids. Marburg has been proving fatal, and there is no vaccine against it. This is not the first Marburg breaksout in this region. In the previous outbreak of Marburg, 123 people were killed in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo between 1998 and 2000, official records show