عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

WHO, Africa CDC Launch Response Plan to Mpox Outbreak

This handout photograph taken and released by the European Union's Press Service on September 5, 2024, journalists work during the reception of a batch of mpox vaccines donated by European Union at the tarmac of Kinshasa International Airport in the Nsele district of Kinshasa. (AFP / European Union handout)
This handout photograph taken and released by the European Union's Press Service on September 5, 2024, journalists work during the reception of a batch of mpox vaccines donated by European Union at the tarmac of Kinshasa International Airport in the Nsele district of Kinshasa. (AFP / European Union handout)
TT
TT

WHO, Africa CDC Launch Response Plan to Mpox Outbreak

This handout photograph taken and released by the European Union's Press Service on September 5, 2024, journalists work during the reception of a batch of mpox vaccines donated by European Union at the tarmac of Kinshasa International Airport in the Nsele district of Kinshasa. (AFP / European Union handout)
This handout photograph taken and released by the European Union's Press Service on September 5, 2024, journalists work during the reception of a batch of mpox vaccines donated by European Union at the tarmac of Kinshasa International Airport in the Nsele district of Kinshasa. (AFP / European Union handout)

The Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization launched on Friday a continent-wide response plan to the outbreak of mpox, three weeks after WHO declared outbreaks in 12 African countries a global emergency.

The estimated budget for the six-month plan is almost $600 million, with 55% allocated to mpox response in 14 affected nations and boosting readiness in 15 others, while 45% is directed towards operational and technical support through partners, Africa CDC director-general Dr. Jean Kaseya told reporters on Friday.

The plan focuses on surveillance, laboratory testing and community engagement, Kaseya said, underscoring the fact that vaccines aren't enough to fight the spreading outbreak.

The organization said that since the start of 2024, there have been 5,549 confirmed mpox cases across the continent, with 643 associated deaths, representing a sharp escalation in both infections and fatalities compared to previous years. The cases in Congo constituted 91% of the total number. Most mpox infections in Congo and Burundi, the second most affected country, are in children under age 15.

The plan comes a day after the first batch of mpox vaccines arrived in the capital of Congo, the center of the outbreak. The 100,000 doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine, manufactured by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic, have been donated by the European Union through HERA, the bloc’s agency for health emergencies. Another 100,000 are expected to be delivered on Saturday, Congolese authorities said.

“These vaccines are vital in safeguarding our health workers and vulnerable populations, and in curbing the spread of mpox,” Kaseya said Thursday.

The 200,000 doses are just a fraction of the 3 million that doses authorities have said are needed to end the mpox outbreaks in Congo, the epicenter of the global health emergency. The European Union countries pledged to donate more than 500,000 others, but the timeline for their delivery remained unclear.

Emmanuel Lampaert, Doctors Without Borders representative in Congo, said that vaccination was an additional tool, and that basic health measures were still crucial to combat the outbreak, and there were obviously challenges with that in many parts of Congo.

Congo issued an emergency approval of the vaccine, which has already been used in Europe and the United States in adults, but it remained unclear on Friday when the vaccination campaign would begin. For the moment, the rollout would be reserved for adults, Kaseya said, with priority targeted groups being those who have been in close contact with infected people and sex workers.

The European Medicines Agency is examining additional data to be able to administer it to children ranging in age from 12 to 17, which could happen at the end of the month, HERA Director-General Laurent Muschel said.

“We don’t have all the answers,” Muschel told reporters on Friday. “We learn by doing. We are going to adapt the strategy depending on the impact of the vaccination campaign."

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Cat-linked Parasite is ‘Major Cause of Vision Loss’

Awareness protects people from being infected with the parasite (Getty) 
Awareness protects people from being infected with the parasite (Getty) 
TT
TT

Cat-linked Parasite is ‘Major Cause of Vision Loss’

Awareness protects people from being infected with the parasite (Getty) 
Awareness protects people from being infected with the parasite (Getty) 

As much as a third of the world’s population could be infected with a parasite from cats that might lead to retina-damaging eye infection and permanent vision loss, a groundbreaking new study warns.

Although the disease, toxoplasmosis, is preventable and treatable, researchers call for it to be formally recognized as a neglected tropical disease (NTD) by the World Health Organization (WHO), according to The Independent.

“Toxoplasmosis is a leading eye infection and a major cause of vision loss worldwide, yet it receives limited attention in global health agendas,” said Justine Smith, an author of the study published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

With WHO’s recognition, we can make substantial progress in prevention and management of this infection,” said Dr Smith, an ophthalmologist from Flinders University in Australia.

People may be infected with the parasite either through eating undercooked meat, contaminated produce or water, or exposure to cat feces.

Cats themselves may get infected from eating raw meat, birds, or rodents.

Curbing the disease spread would require integration of veterinary strategies, improved farm health safety, management of stray cats, and safe disposal of animal waste, scientists say.

It occurs mainly in communities with limited access to healthcare, safe food, clean water and prenatal care.

In most severe cases, infection with the parasite may lead to inflammation of the retina and permanent blindness; scientists warn.

Researchers warn that currently there is less research funding and policy attention for toxoplasmosis than diseases with similar or lower impacts.

A formal WHO recognition as an NTD would unlock funding for research, prevention and treatment.

“Without this recognition, we can expect limited progress in the prevention and management of toxoplasmosis to continue,” researchers warn.

Varieties

Why Some Europeans Resist Air Conditioning, Even Amid Deadly Heatwaves

People use an umbrella to protect themselves from the sun, amid a heatwave, at Castle Square in Warsaw, Poland, June 28, 2026. (Reuters)
People use an umbrella to protect themselves from the sun, amid a heatwave, at Castle Square in Warsaw, Poland, June 28, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Why Some Europeans Resist Air Conditioning, Even Amid Deadly Heatwaves

People use an umbrella to protect themselves from the sun, amid a heatwave, at Castle Square in Warsaw, Poland, June 28, 2026. (Reuters)
People use an umbrella to protect themselves from the sun, amid a heatwave, at Castle Square in Warsaw, Poland, June 28, 2026. (Reuters)

As climate change drives more severe and prolonged heatwaves, it seems that turning to air conditioners is the most logic option to save lives.

But in Europe, many residents and officials are still reluctant to use air conditioning although the heat takes an increasingly deadly toll. A big part of the reason is many European countries consider air conditioning as an unnecessary, costly, carbon emissions-heavy indulgence.

France's record heat last week has been linked to around 1,000 deaths of mostly elderly people. Heat danger is a problem being felt across Europe, which has the oldest population of any continent and is also the world's fastest-warming continent, according to CBS News.

The continent also has more heat-related deaths per capita than anywhere else in the world, yet it has fewer hot days. According to World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, there have been more than 1,300 heat-related excess deaths in Europe since June 21.

European officials are calling for change, but not the kind that may seem obvious — like air conditioning.

A 2007 study found that air conditioning can cut heat-related deaths by 75%, but only about 20% of Europeans have air conditioning in their homes. In the US, it's about 90%.

“My honest response is I don't think that should be the solution anywhere,” Ine Vandecasteele, an urban adaptation expert with the European Environment Agency, told CBS News.

“It is an immediate response, which can support essentially those who may be vulnerable in hospitals, or in very short term can help. But in the longer term, what happens is, installing more air conditioning actually emits more heat into our environment, so it will actually increase the speed of warming,” she added.

It's also more expensive. In Europe, energy prices are much higher than in the US. European governments have instead funded other ways to cool historic and densely populated cities, such as public cooling stations.

In Rome, wearable technology is distributed to monitor the elderly, who are by far the most at risk in the increasing heat. But Italy has also embraced air conditioning more than other European nations.

About 56% of all homes in Italy had air conditioning as of 2024, according to the National Institute of Statistics, and the country accounts for one-third of all electricity use on air conditioning in the European Union, according to EU data.

A recent survey in France found that one in six people said they would rather suffer for the sake of the environment. Vandecasteele told CBS News she doesn't find that surprising.

“We're not doing this for us,” she said. “We're doing this for the future generations.”

Varieties

End of the Line for Finland’s Analogue Phone Network

Countries across the world have rolled out fiber optic cable that can handle both internet services and voice calls. (Reuters)
Countries across the world have rolled out fiber optic cable that can handle both internet services and voice calls. (Reuters)
TT
TT

End of the Line for Finland’s Analogue Phone Network

Countries across the world have rolled out fiber optic cable that can handle both internet services and voice calls. (Reuters)
Countries across the world have rolled out fiber optic cable that can handle both internet services and voice calls. (Reuters)

Finland on Tuesday pulled the plug on analogue landline phone calls after almost 150 years, the latest country to push forward in a global transition towards digital infrastructure.

Estonia, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain have already made the jump, as countries across the world roll out fiber optic cable that can handle both internet services and voice calls.

Finland's fixed-line network began operating in the 1880s, but like everywhere else the digital revolution has swallowed up the old technology based on copper wires.

And the Nordic country, home of mobile phone pioneer Nokia, has seen the use of landline phones gobbled up by mobile technology.

Elisa, the country's last major telecom operator with a fixed-line copper-wire network, marked the end of its service with a call between the firm's CEO Topi Manner and Jarkko Saarimaki, head of the country's communication and transport agency.

The two chatted about their memories of landline phones, with Manner recalling his time as a teenager in London in the 1980s when he would call home once a week at an agreed time to make sure the family were all there.

They also discussed the future of mobile technologies, before ending the call with a casual "kuulemiin", meaning "speak later" in Finnish.

When announcing its decision to retire the network in January -- a move its competitors had already made earlier -- Elisa said its customers had just a "few thousand" landline-only plans, with no new ones being sold in years.

After Tuesday, the only providers of landline plans in Finland will be local operators, currently covering a few thousand plans for local calls, public broadcaster Yle said.