The Daily Populous

Sunday December 29th, 2024 evening edition

image for Ebola: How a vaccine turned a terrifying virus into a preventable disease

The Ebola virus devastated west Africa in 2014, claiming over 11,000 lives in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

It was the largest Ebola outbreak since the virus had first been discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976.

Ebola is a terrifying virus which, if left untreated, causes bleeding inside the body and through the eyes, nose, mouth and rectum.

The 2014 outbreak in west Africa exposed a critical gap in global preparedness for infectious diseases: the absence of effective vaccines.

As a biologist and epidemiologist, I travelled to Guinea amid the chaos to coordinate the laboratory activities of the rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine trials.

It works by using a modified virus to produce antibodies against Ebola, equipping the immune system to recognise and neutralise the virus upon exposure.

Challenges do persist, including limited vaccine supply, logistical hurdles in remote regions, and vaccine hesitancy fuelled by misinformation. »

Russia-linked cable-cutting tanker seized by Finland ‘was loaded with spying equipment’

Authored by lloydslist.com

Eagle S was boarded by Finnish forces investigating sabotage of the Estlink 2 undersea cable that disrupted the supply of electricity to Estonia from Finland.

The tanker slowed and dragged its anchor around the cable around midday, December 25, Finland’s police said.

The figures exclude tankers tracked to government-controlled shipping entities such as Russia’s Sovcomflot, or Iran’s National Iranian Tanker Co, and those already sanctioned. »

Senegal says it’s closing ‘all foreign military bases,’ a move aimed at French troops in the country

Authored by apnews.com

Although Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko did not specifically name French troops, no other foreign forces have military bases in Senegal.

Sonko made the announcement during a general policy statement to the National Assembly, without providing a timeline for the exit of the French troops.

“The President of the Republic has decided to close all foreign military bases in the very near future,” Sonko said. »