Cash-strapped Africa overwhelmed by COVID-19 vaccine challenge
Many African countries, already facing a shortage of affordable vaccines, are being stunned by the unprecedented scale of the distribution challenge when doses do arrive.
Concern grows over first West Africa Ebola resurgence in five years
West Africa faced its first known Ebola resurgence since the end of a devastating outbreak in 2016 on Sunday, with Guinea responding to what its health chief called an "epidemic" after seven cases were confirmed. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic stretching health resources across the world, ...
Gilead drug prevents type of coronavirus in monkeys, raising hope for China trials
An experimental Gilead Sciences antiviral drug prevented disease and reduced the severity of symptoms in monkeys infected with Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), an infection closely related to the fast-spreading coronavirus that originated in China, a study published on Thursday found. The results, reported in ...
A tragic airline crash with far-reaching consequences, cataclysmic cyclones that may be a harbinger of the future, the death of an African icon and a new leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize. These African stories captured the world's attention in 2019 — and ...
Tokyo University team to start first clinical trials of new Ebola vaccine
A team of University of Tokyo researchers said Thursday it will begin later this month the nation's first clinical study on a vaccine for the Ebola virus. The new vaccine developed by Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a professor at the university's Institute of Medical Science, and others ...
Congo's Ebola outbreak slows but still entrenched in insecure areas: WHO
The Ebola epidemic in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been confined to a rural area rife with militias and people on the move, making it harder to stamp out altogether, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday. Only 14 confirmed infections were reported last ...
Japan imports Ebola virus for research ahead of 2020 Olympics visitor influx
Strains of Ebola and four other deadly viruses have been imported to Japan for the development of diagnostic kits ahead of an expected influx of visitors for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo, a governmental research institute said Friday. The viruses were taken to ...
The world faces a mounting threat of pandemics that could kill millions and wreak economic havoc, a international expert panel warns, saying governments should work to mitigate that risk. The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, convened by the World Bank and the World Health Organization, said ...
How to stop deadly outbreaks of diseases like Ebola — before they occur
In today's interconnected world, disease outbreaks do not respect national borders.
For countries to grow, health care must come first, WHO's Africa director says on TICAD sidelines
Matshidiso Moeti has been one of Africa's foremost caretakers for more than three decades. Last week, she was nominated by 47 member states of the World Health Organization to serve a second five-year term as regional director for Africa, and this week in Yokohama she ...
Ebola kills boy aged 7 in Congo's South Kivu, the province's second fatality
South Kivu, Congo AFP-Jiji A child has died from Ebola in Congo's South Kivu, health authorities said Monday, the second person to succumb to the virus since the epidemic spread to the eastern province. The announcement last week of the first confirmed cases in South Kivu revived ...
Scientists hail promise of first effective Ebola treatments in Congo trial
Scientists are a step closer to finding the first effective treatments for the deadly Ebola hemorrhagic fever after two potential drugs showed encouraging survival results in a clinical trial in Congo. Two experimental drugs — Regeneron's REGN-EB3 and a monoclonal antibody called mAb114 — were ...
