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Mail & Guardian

Ebola Virus

latest news & developments
An agent of the National Institute of Public Hygiene (INHP) vaccinates a doctor against the Ebola virus, at the University Hospital of Cocody during a vaccination operation of health personnel after the first Ebola patient was brought in, in Cocody on August 16, 2021. – Ivory Coast began a roll-out of vaccinations against Ebola on August 16, 2021, after the country recorded its first known case of the disease since 1994, the health ministry said. “Health workers, close relatives and contacts of the victim” were the first to be vaccinated, getting jabs from 5,000 doses sent from Guinea, spokesman Germain Mahan Sehi said. (Photo by Sia KAMBOU / AFP) (Photo by SIA KAMBOU/AFP via Getty Images)
COTE D IVOIRE

Côte d’Ivoire starts Ebola jabs after first case in decades

Ivorian health workers had previously said that vaccinations of “targeted groups” had already begun on Sunday

  • Agence France Presse
2 min read
Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention John Nkengasong. (Michael Tewelde/AFP via Getty Images)
AFRICA CENTRES FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

‘We cannot be complacent,’ says Africa CDC boss

Africa’s new disease control agency reacted early and quickly to the Covid-19 pandemic

  • Simon Allison
4 min read
The gold standard is complete suppression of the virus, which can be done without massive economic disruption by using rapid testing, effective contact tracing and complete isolation of infected cases. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
AIDS

In a pandemic, science and humanities work side by side

Anthropologists ask the difficult questions about human behaviour and also provide the difficult answers

  • Fraser McNeill
3 min read
Toilets in townships and informal settlements need to be improved. Photo: David Harrison/M&G
CHINA

How to tackle Covid-19 in informal settlements

It’s difficult to enforce a lockdown in informal settlements, and social distancing may be impossible. New ideas are needed

  • Mark Weston
13 min read
A man in protective gear disinfects a bus. The disinfection consists of washing the exterior of a bus, dry sweeping and wet cleaning the inside and aerosol spraying. (Artur Harutyunyan Tass via Getty Images)
ANDREW CUNNINGHAM
Video

Covid-19: Lessons from the zombie apocalypse

Humans are primed to lay the blame for this pandemic at nature’s door, but if we do not wish to reap disaster, we should not sow its seeds

  • Bert Olivier
6 min read
(John McCann/M&G)
ABORTIONS

Safeguarding women’s rights during the Covid-19 shutdown

Women will be disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic, particularly considering their contribution as caregivers, in both professional and domestic settings

  • Susan Tolmay
  • Colleen Lowe Morna
6 min read
(Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
AFRICA CENTRES FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

The coronavirus and Africa: Exposing our vulnerabilities and inequalities

Africa is no stranger to dealing with epidemics. A regional body has been established to co-ordinate responses, but fault lines are evident at a national level

  • Ayesha Jacub
4 min read
The World Health Organisation must recommit to the democratic principles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Reuters)
AYMAR NYENYEZI BISOKA

Ebola in the Congo: a forgotten conflict became a danger to world health

Local communities are wary of the sudden arrival of outsiders and of their interest in regions where there’s been violence for years

  • Aymar Nyenyezi Bisoka
4 min read
Health experts fear outbreaks in major cities, where population density and high mobility make it far harder to isolate patients and trace contacts compared to the countryside. (Florian Plaucheur/Getty/AFP)
AGENCY

DRC Ebola epidemic widens on eve of first anniversary

A total of 1803 lives have been lost in the second worst outbreak of Ebola on record, according to figures released Wednesday.

  • Agency
4 min read
DRC’s Ebola outbreak spreads to Uganda (Photo Archive)
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

DRC’s Ebola outbreak spreads to Uganda

World Health Organisation confirms one case of the virus

  • Simon Allison
2 min read
Efforts to roll back the outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever have been hampered by fighting but also by resistance within communities to preventative measures, care facilities and safe burials. (Baz Ratner/Reuters)
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

More than 1 000 dead in DRC Ebola epidemic

The current outbreak is the second deadliest on record, after an epidemic killed more than 11 300 people in West Africa in 2014-2016

  • Agency
4 min read
West Africa experienced the worst Ebola outbreak between 2013 and 2016. (AFP)
CONGO

DRC’s Ebola outbreak has all the makings of a humanitarian crisis

The current Ebola outbreak in the DRC is devastating vulnerable communities already affected by displacement and violence

  • Jacqueline Weyer
4 min read
The outbreak emerged in North Kivu last August and has since claimed 591 lives out of 894 recorded cases. (AFP)
AFP

MSF: Ebola response in DR Congo ‘failing’ to contain outbreak

The ongoing Ebola outbreak is the 10th in the country’s history and the second largest ever recorded worldwide.

  • Staff Reporter
3 min read
DRC’s latest Ebola epidemic, which began in August 2018, has killed 2144 people, making it the second deadliest outbreak of the virus, after the West Africa pandemic of 2014-2016. (Reuters)
BHEKISISA TEAM
Video

Sex for vaccines: Violence may mar the rollout of new experimental Ebola jab

Women in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo are allegedly being asked for sexual favours in exchange for Ebola treatment.

  • Rebecca Ratcliffe
5 min read
A World Health Organization official looks on as health workers in Conakry receive training during the 2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. (David Snyder)
CORRUPTION
Video

Why money earmarked to fight Ebola may have financed one man’s love life

The World Health Organization launches an inquiry after claims of ‘legendary’ corruption, including racism and sexism.

  • Rebecca Ratcliffe
5 min read