Epidemic - eriinfo

Africa

West Africa Unite in Abidjan to Fast-Track Lassa Fever Vaccine and Strengthen Epidemic Preparedness

eriinfo.com2 months ago06 mins

The 2nd ECOWAS Lassa Fever International Conference (#ELFIC 2025) concluded this Thursday 11 September 2025 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, after four days of high-level discussions, knowledge sharing, and strategic commitments. The gathering brought together more than 800 policymakers, scientists, health professionals, and development partners from across West Africa and beyond to confront one of the…

Spam call epidemic: operators say their hands are tied

eriinfo.com4 months ago08 mins

Data privacy and unlawful interception of information laws prevent South Africa’s mobile operators from getting tougher in the first against spam calls at the network layer – but interventions taken in international markets including Australia suggests more can still be done. TechCentral reported last week that South Africa’s spam call epidemic is getting worse, despite…

Hackers tighten grip as ransomware epidemic hits South Africa hard

eriinfo.com5 months ago07 mins

Cybercriminals and malicious hacker groups that successfully breached the IT systems of South African companies in the past year raised their ransom demands nearly sixfold in the same period. According to The State of Ransomware in South Africa Report 2025 by cybersecurity firm Sophos, the median ransom demanded rose shot up from US$165 000 (R2.9-million) in…

Africa

Africa: Sierra Leone’s Mpox Surge Puts Africa’s Epidemic Preparedness to the Test

eriinfo.com5 months ago011 mins

The Mpox virus (formerly known as monkeypox) continues to make an unsettling return across several communities in West and Central African countries, with Sierra Leone becoming the latest hotspot. Sierra Leone has faced the previous emergence of mpox cases, but none that escalated into an outbreak of the scale we are witnessing today. The surge…