China-related Cyber Threats Trigger Crisis between Berlin and Beijing

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, second from left, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, second from right, walk together in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (Ding Haitao/Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, second from left, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, second from right, walk together in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (Ding Haitao/Xinhua via AP)
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China-related Cyber Threats Trigger Crisis between Berlin and Beijing

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, second from left, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, second from right, walk together in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (Ding Haitao/Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, second from left, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, second from right, walk together in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (Ding Haitao/Xinhua via AP)

China said Germany has publicly made groundless accusations against it about "so-called cyber intrusion," the Chinese embassy in Germany said.
"China firmly opposes the manipulation of cybersecurity issues and hyped up so-called China-related cyber threats," the embassy said in a statement released late on Wednesday.
Germany accused China of having been behind a 2021 cyberattack on the federal cartography agency for espionage purposes and summoned Beijing's ambassador to Berlin to lodge a complaint, reported Reuters.



WHO Says Suspected Outbreak of Marburg Disease Kills 8 in Tanzania

FILE PHOTO: World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses a press conference on the Marburg virus outbreak at the Kigali Convention Center in Kigali, Rwanda, October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses a press conference on the Marburg virus outbreak at the Kigali Convention Center in Kigali, Rwanda, October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo
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WHO Says Suspected Outbreak of Marburg Disease Kills 8 in Tanzania

FILE PHOTO: World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses a press conference on the Marburg virus outbreak at the Kigali Convention Center in Kigali, Rwanda, October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses a press conference on the Marburg virus outbreak at the Kigali Convention Center in Kigali, Rwanda, October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo

The World Health Organization said Wednesday an outbreak of suspected Marburg disease has killed eight people in a remote part of northern Tanzania.
“We are aware of 9 cases so far, including 8 people who have died,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. “We would expect further cases in coming days as disease surveillance improves,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying.
Like Ebola, the Marburg virus originates in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or with surfaces, such as contaminated bed sheets.
Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of people who fall ill with the disease. Symptoms include fever, muscle pains, diarrhea, vomiting and in some cases death from extreme blood loss. There is no authorized vaccine or treatment for Marburg.
WHO said its risk assessment for the suspected outbreak in Tanzania is high at national and regional levels but low globally. There was no immediate comment from Tanzanian health authorities.
An outbreak of Marburg in Rwanda, first reported on Sept. 27, was declared over on Dec. 20. Rwandan officials reported a total of 15 deaths and 66 cases, with the majority of those affected healthcare workers who handled the first patients.