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DR Congo Set to Receive 70,000 Ebola Vaccines to Fight Outbreak

The Democratic Republic of Congo has been allocated 70,000 Ervebo vaccines from the global Ebola virus disease vaccine stockpile for use in the current fast spreading Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.The government requested a release of Ervebo vaccines last week from the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision.In a statement, the WHO said vaccine allocation includes 20,000 doses for a Phase 3 clinical trial to better understand the impact of the vaccine on the Bundibugyo virus, while 50,000 shots will be used for frontline and health workers, following recommendations from the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization.To date, no vaccine or specific treatment has been approved against the Bundibugyo virus.Ervebo vaccine is licensed and recommended for use in outbreaks of Ebola virus disease (previously called Zaire ebolavirus).It is not known whether Ervebo may be protective against the Bundibugyo virus in humans, but the WHO said early laboratory and animal data suggests it may provide some protection.WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the vaccine provision demonstrated "an important example of global solidarity in action."Tedros said together with partners and national authorities, the WHO remains "committed to supporting strengthened surveillance, rapid detection, community engagement and vaccination efforts to bring the outbreak under control."Deaths from Ebola in Congo has surpassed the toll from the 2018-2020 outbreak to become the deadliest in the country's history.Confirmed infections in the current Ebola outbreak have reached 5,208, including 2,476 deaths, according to the latest Health Ministry situation update. The case fatality rate stands at 47.5%.The epidemic has affected 56 health zones across six provinces: Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Bas-Uele and Tshopo.Some 730 patients are in isolation or hospital, while 1,115 people have recovered.Earlier this week, the WHO said that the current Ebola outbreak in Congo remains a public health emergency of international concern.

21-08-2026 12:40

DR Congo Set to Receive 70,000 Ebola Vaccines to Fight Outbreak

The Democratic Republic of Congo has been allocated 70,000 Ervebo vaccines from the global Ebola virus disease vaccine stockpile for use in the current fast spreading Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.The government requested a release of Ervebo vaccines last week from the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision.In a statement, the WHO said vaccine allocation includes 20,000 doses for a Phase 3 clinical trial to better understand the impact of the vaccine on the Bundibugyo virus, while 50,000 shots will be used for frontline and health workers, following recommendations from the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization.To date, no vaccine or specific treatment has been approved against the Bundibugyo virus.Ervebo vaccine is licensed and recommended for use in outbreaks of Ebola virus disease (previously called Zaire ebolavirus).It is not known whether Ervebo may be protective against the Bundibugyo virus in humans, but the WHO said early laboratory and animal data suggests it may provide some protection.WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the vaccine provision demonstrated "an important example of global solidarity in action."Tedros said together with partners and national authorities, the WHO remains "committed to supporting strengthened surveillance, rapid detection, community engagement and vaccination efforts to bring the outbreak under control."Deaths from Ebola in Congo has surpassed the toll from the 2018-2020 outbreak to become the deadliest in the country's history.Confirmed infections in the current Ebola outbreak have reached 5,208, including 2,476 deaths, according to the latest Health Ministry situation update. The case fatality rate stands at 47.5%.The epidemic has affected 56 health zones across six provinces: Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Bas-Uele and Tshopo.Some 730 patients are in isolation or hospital, while 1,115 people have recovered.Earlier this week, the WHO said that the current Ebola outbreak in Congo remains a public health emergency of international concern.

21-08-2026 12:40

Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo Becomes Deadliest in Country’s History

The Ebola outbreak ‌in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has killed 2,325 people, surpassing the death toll ⁠from the 2018-2020 outbreak ⁠to become the deadliest in the country’s history.The confirmed number of people infected with the virus has risen to 4,945, including 101 new cases detected in the previous ⁠24 hours, the DRC’s National Public Health Institute said in its latest report on Sunday.“The outbreak is the fastest growing on record,” Tom Fletcher, the United Nations humanitarian chief, said in a statement on Friday. “We need speed, scale, and solidarity before this virus gets even further ahead of us.”The outbreak, the DRC’s 17th, was already the biggest in the country’s history in terms of number of cases – a milestone reached in late July. The latest government data shows that the total number of deaths has ⁠surpassed the 2,299 deaths recorded in the 2018-2020 outbreak, which was previously the country’s worst on record.“Ebola is winning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We cannot let the virus outrun our response,” Fletcher said as he outlined the latest efforts to contain the virus.On Wednesday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that at its current pace, the outbreak is on track to eclipse the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016, a crisis that killed more than 11,000 people and accelerated the push to develop a vaccine.The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola virus, which has no approved vaccines or treatments. The outbreak has gained momentum since it was declared on May 15, as weak health infrastructure, the region’s remoteness, and ongoing conflict near the DRC’s borders with South Sudan, Uganda, and Rwanda have hindered response efforts.The proportion of people dying from the outbreak after ⁠a confirmed infection, known as the case fatality ratio, has risen from about 20 percent ⁠in early June to 46 percent, according to government data, meaning nearly one in every two confirmed cases is now deadly.“Normally, ⁠as an outbreak progresses, the case fatality ratio should fall as contact tracing improves and patients are identified and treated earlier,” said Thomas Parisch, a public health specialist ⁠deployed to the DRC with medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF.“Instead, we’re still ⁠seeing many cases detected very late, when treatment is less likely to succeed, with many identified only after they die in the community.”A small number of experimental vaccines and therapies are being evaluated, while global health authorities assess whether existing Ebola treatments could offer protection. Evidence so far ‌is limited to animal studies.

17-08-2026 11:15

New study finds financial problems strain the brain and accelerate aging

A new study has found that financial difficulties can take a toll on the brain and cause it to age prematurely.The study, conducted by a research team from University College London, showed that people who experience financial problems or declining income early in adulthood tend to experience a decline in cognitive abilities by the age of 53.Published in the scientific journal Innovation in Aging, which specializes in aging-related research, the study revealed through brain scans of participants that a lifetime of financial hardship affects brain function and may even lead to a reduction in brain volume between the ages of 69 and 71.Researcher Jack Wells, one of the study’s contributors, said: “This study examined several decades to understand the impact of accumulated financial difficulties over many years and their relationship with cognitive brain functions, rather than measuring them only during periods of severe financial stress.”The study analyzed data from around 2,800 British citizens born in 1946. Researchers asked participants about their financial circumstances at ages 26, 43, and 53, including whether they struggled to meet their financial obligations at those ages.The findings showed that lower income and financial difficulties were linked to reduced ability to process information and declining verbal memory by the age of 53.The study also found that men were more affected by financial problems than women.Researchers attributed this difference to the fact that men from that generation were raised in a period when the man was typically considered the head of the household and responsible for supporting the entire family.

28-07-2026 10:46

WHO: We have less than half funding needed to fight Ebola

The World Health Organization has received less than half the funding it ​needs to fight the Ebola outbreak in eastern ‌Democratic Republic of Congo, a WHO official said on Tuesday, urging donors not to abandon the country at a critical ​stage of the epidemic.The global health agency has ​received about 40% of its $115 million appeal to ⁠tackle the Bundibugyo outbreak, for which there is no ​proven treatment or vaccine. At least 1,926 people have been ​infected and 702 have died, government data show."This outbreak requires resources that match the scale of the challenges that we are ​facing. And this is not a burden DRC can ​be allowed to carry alone," Chikwe Ihekweazu, head of the WHO's ‌Health ⁠Emergencies Programme, told reporters in Geneva after a visit to the worst-hit province of Ituri.Ihekweazu said the response had reached a critical point, with intensified efforts needed to ​detect and isolate ​patients after ⁠cases spread this week to two new provinces."It's a bit like a marathon. You can't ​give up after the first lap or ​the second. ⁠You just have to keep pushing even when you're getting tired and exhausted," he said.He repeated estimates that the ⁠true ​number of Ebola cases in ​Congo is at least double, and possibly over four times, the official tally.

14-07-2026 14:05

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Six Minutes of Daily Exercise Can Boost Brain Health and Delay Alzheimer’s

Vishwam Sankaran wrote this article in The Independent:Just six minutes of intense exercise every day can boost the brain’s lifespan and delay the onset of neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, according to a new study.The research, published last week in The Journal of Physiology, found that a short but intense bout of cycling can increase the production of a special brain protein linked to brain formation, learning, and memory.Scientists, including those from the University of Otago in New Zealand, say the special protein named brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) can protect the brain from age-related cognitive decline.Previous studies have shown that increasing the availability of BDNF in the brain encourages the formation and storage of memories, enhances learning, and also boosts cognitive performance overall.“BDNF has shown great promise in animal models, but pharmaceutical interventions have thus far failed to safely harness the protective power of BDNF in humans,” study lead author Travis Gibbons from the University of Otago said in a statement.“We saw the need to explore non-pharmacological approaches that can preserve the brain’s capacity which humans can use to naturally increase BDNF to help with healthy aging,” Dr Gibbons said.In the new study, researchers analysed the influence of fasting and exercise on BDNF production in 12 physically active participants - six males and six females aged between 18 and 56 years.They assessed the contributing role played on this protein’s production by factors such as fasting for 20 hours, light exercise, a six-minute bout of high-intensity vigorous cycling, and the combined effects of fasting and exercise.Scientists found that brief, but vigorous, exercise was the best way to increase BDNF compared to one day of fasting with or without a lengthy session of light exercise.Researchers say BDNF increased by a factor of four to five times compared to fasting, or prolonged activity.“Six minutes of high-intensity cycling intervals increased every metric of circulating BDNF by 4 to 5 times more than prolonged low-intensity cycling,” researchers wrote in the study.However the cause for these differences remains unknown, they say, adding that more research is needed to understand the biological mechanisms involved.Scientists suspect the brain may be switching its favoured fuel source during exercise for another to ensure the body’s energy demands are met.“We are now studying how fasting for longer durations, for example up to three days, influences BDNF. We are curious whether exercising hard at the start of a fast accelerates the beneficial effects of fasting,” Dr Gibbons said.“Fasting and exercise are rarely studied together. We think fasting and exercise can be used in conjunction to optimize BDNF production in the human brain,” he added.

17-01-2023 09:42

Juice of Beetroot May Increase Muscle Power During Exercise

The Independent published this article:Researchers have found that consuming dietary nitrate - the active molecule in beetroot juice - can increase muscle force while exercising, an advance that may lead to better workout supplements.While previous studies have shown that dietary nitrate enhances exercise, it has remained unclear how the body converts this molecule into the chemical nitric oxide to be used by our cells.In the new study, published earlier this month in the journal Acta Physiologica, scientists traced the distribution of ingested nitrate in the saliva, blood, muscle, and urine of ten healthy volunteers who performed leg exercises.Scientists probed where in the body the dietary nitrate molecules were active to understand better the mechanisms in play.During the workout, which included 60 thigh muscle contractions at maximum intensity for over five minutes, researchers found a significant increase in the nitrate levels in the quadriceps muscle.They say the nitrate boost led to an increase in muscle force of about seven per cent, compared to when participants took a placebo.“Our research has already provided a large body of evidence on the performance-enhancing properties of dietary nitrate, commonly found in beetroot juice,” said study co-author Andy Jones from the University of Exeter in the UK.“Excitingly, this latest study provides the best evidence to date on the mechanisms behind why dietary nitrate improves human muscle performance,” Dr Jones added.Earlier studies had discovered an increase of nitrate in tissue and body fluid after ingesting labeled dietary nitrate.But in the new research, scientists could accurately assess where the nitrate is increased and active.They were also able to shed new light on how the nitrate consumed is used up by the body to enhance exercise performance.Citing a limitation of the study, researchers said while dietary nitrate supplementation often occurs in the form of beetroot juice, they say it is unclear how the results might have differed if the beverage had been consumed by the participants.Since the research was conducted in a young male population, scientists say further studies are required to determine how women and older people responded to the supplementation.“This study provides the first direct evidence that muscle nitrate levels are important for exercise performance, presumably by acting as a source of nitric oxide,” Barbora Piknova, another author of the study from the National Institutes of Health in the US, said.“These results have significant implications not only for the exercise field, but possibly for other medical areas such as those targeting neuromuscular and metabolic diseases related to nitric oxide deficiency,” Dr Piknova added.

24-01-2023 10:43

Successful Surgery to Separate Conjoined Twins Performed, the First of Its Kind in Lebanon

L'Orient Today published this article:Caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad has presented the details of a successful surgery performed to separate conjoined twins at the American University of Beirut Medical Center in the “first surgical operation of its kind” to be conducted in Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported on Tuesday.Abiad explained that the twins' parents contacted him six months ago to ask for help after an X-ray that then-expectant mother underwent showed the twins were conjoined.In Lebanon, in light of the economic crisis, hospitals and medical institutions are suffering from shortages of supplies and medicines, as well as medical and nursing staff.Abiad explained that he contacted AUBMC, which agreed to perform the separation operation despite the current crisis, and “succeeded in proving the ability of the American University and the medical system in Lebanon to carry out the operation.”"In fact, our hospital institutions are still able to be in the first line in providing advanced health care to citizens and residents in Lebanon and to preserve what they provided before the crisis. With the improvement of conditions, these institutions will be able to provide more," Abiad said.He added that "the health system in Lebanon, even if it faces great difficulties, is a flexible system and has the ability to present achievements.”The preparation for the surgical operation took four months, as a team of doctors and nurses prepared to accompany the twin girls, Riham and Reem, until they were discharged from the hospital.“The full coordination between the team members and planning for all the details played a key role in the success of the operation, which required 10 hours and was characterized by great accuracy and extreme sensitivity, in order not to have any negative complications on the separated organ,” the NNA reported.

25-01-2023 16:05

India Launches Its First Nasal Covid Vaccine

BBC published this article:Made by Bharat Biotech, iNCOVACC is administered in the form of drops and stimulates an immune response in the tissues that line the nasal cavity.In September 2022, China had approved an inhaled Covid vaccine, administered in the form or a spray.Scientists say that nasal vaccines may offer added immunity in the lining of the nose and upper airways, where Covid typically enters the body.Research teams in the UK and the US have also been investigating nasal spray vaccines.In November, India's drug regulator approved the use of iNCOVACC as a heterologous booster dose - a booster for people who had previously received two doses of Covishied or Covaxin, the two main Indian vaccines - in emergency situations among adults.In December, it was approved by the drug regulator as a primary vaccine and as a subsequent booster shot in adults.The vaccine will cost 800 rupees ($10; £8) per dose in private hospitals and 325 rupees per dose in government hospitals and can be booked on the government's online platform. Two doses are to be taken 28 days apart.iNCOVACC uses a adenovirus as a carrier for the genetic code that teaches the body how to fight the infection. Adenoviruses used in the vaccines are harmless transporters which have been modified so they cannot replicate or cause infection.Dr Krishna Ella, chairman of Bharat Biotech, told ANI news agency that the vaccine was "easy to deliver" as it didn't need a syringe or needle, and that it produced a broader immune response as compared to injectable Covid vaccines.India has administered over two billion Covid jabs so far. More than 70% of the Indian population has taken at least two doses, according to the federal health ministry.In January 2022, India began giving boosters to healthcare and frontline workers, and those above 60 years with comorbidities. It was later expanded to all adults. However, the pace of booster doses administrated has been slow.

27-01-2023 15:14

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