The first half of 2026 has been marked by three different disease outbreaks: Ebola, hantavirus and, in Australia, diphtheria. Each has exposed vulnerabilities in how we detect, communicate and respond to infectious disease outbreaks. Each of these outbreaks has its unique challenges. But a common thread has been distrust in health care or a lack…
Cruise ships are convenient floating hotels by which to see far-flung parts of the world – but as an epidemiologist, I know they are also everything an infectious pathogen could want: thousands of strangers packed into enclosed spaces for days or weeks, sharing dining rooms and high-touch surfaces such as elevator buttons and handrails, breathing…
When the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, another crisis quietly grew behind closed doors. Reports from around the globe suggested that violence against women and girls was increasing. Governments, nongovernmental organizations and advocates began referring to the phenomenon as a “shadow pandemic.” To determine whether these headlines and informal…
Cruises are sold as floating holidays, but they are also useful for understanding public health. Cruise ships are carefully designed places where many people live, eat, relax and move through the same shared spaces for days at a time. They show how easily illness can spread when people are packed into a single interconnected environment….
Kampala, Uganda — The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has revealed that 21 countries had, by Friday, declared measles outbreaks–an alarming development given that the disease is highly preventable through vaccination. Speaking to journalists during a press briefing, Prof. Yap Boum II, the Deputy Head of the Africa CDC Mpox Response,…
This article was supported by One Health Hub. Across Africa, One Health is endorsed at the top but often breaks down where outbreaks start, writes Albert Ansah. [NAIROBI, SciDev.Net] Despite political endorsements and global frameworks, Africa’s One Health approach continues to falter at the local level, where weak coordination, limited resources and poor governance often…
A new year might mean new viral threats. Old viruses are constantly evolving. A warming and increasingly populated planet puts humans in contact with more and different viruses. And increased mobility means that viruses can rapidly travel across the globe along with their human hosts. As an infectious diseases physician and researcher, I’ll be keeping…
Africa is grappling with increasing public health threats amid overstretched resources and persistent gaps in preparedness, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has said. Prof. Yap Boum, Incident Manager for Health Emergencies at Africa CDC, gave the alert during the agency’s weekly virtual press briefing. He gave the alert as the…
Lusaka — African health minister have pledged renewed action to end all forms of polio and safeguard the gains of eradication that have seen millions of children across the region saved from the devastation of poliovirus. Gathering in two high-level sessions during the Seventy-fifth sessions of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa…
Dakar — An estimated 80,000 children are at high risk of cholera, as the rainy season begins across West and Central Africa. The heightened risk of cholera spreading is driven by active outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Nigeria, which raise the threat of cross-border transmission to neighbouring countries. Chad, Republic…
