Ebola virus disease - Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ebola virus disease is a serious, often fatal illness in humans. The virus is transmitted to humans through close contact with the blood or secretions of infected wildlife and then spreads through human-to-human transmission.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
Key facts COVID-19 is a disease caused by a virus. The most common symptoms are fever, chills, and sore throat, but there are a range of others. Most people make a full recovery without needing hospital treatment. People with severe symptoms should seek medical care as soon as possible. Over 760 million cases and 6.9 million deaths have been recorded worldwide since December 2019, but the ...

WHO prequalifies first maternal respiratory syncytial virus vaccine
On 12 March 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified the first maternal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine to protect infants against one of the most common causes of acute lower respiratory infections in children globally.

Nipah Virus Infection - India - World Health Organization (WHO)
Between 17 May and 12 July 2025, the Information and Public Relations Department, Government of Kerala informed through a series of official press releases about four confirmed cases, including two deaths, due to Nipah virus (NiV) infection in two districts of Kerala State. NiV infection is a bat-borne disease transmitted to humans through infected animals (such as bats or pigs), contaminated ...

WHO outlines recommendations to protect infants against RSV ...
Today, WHO published its first-ever position paper on immunization products to protect infants against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – the leading cause of acute lower respiratory infections in children globally.

Disease Outbreak News - World Health Organization (WHO)
Latest WHO Disease Outbreak News (DONs), providing information on confirmed acute public health events or potential events of concern. According to Article 11.4 of the International Health Regulations (2005) [IHR (2005)], WHO may make information on acute public health events available, if other information about the same event has already become publicly available and there is a need for the ...

Naming the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the virus that causes it
An explanation of the official names for the corona virus disease (COVID-2019) and the virus that causes it.

Ebola disease - World Health Organization (WHO)
The virus can get into the human population when people have close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as fruit bats, chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope or porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.

Marburg virus disease - World Health Organization (WHO)
WHO fact sheet on Marburg haemorrhagic fever provides information on transmission, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, prevention and WHO response.

Shingles (herpes zoster)
Shingles is a painful rash caused by the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox. Anyone who has had chickenpox can develop shingles, although it is more common in adults over 50 years of age.