Hello, and welcome back to The Kable. We have a light issue for you once again this week. But we’re making up for that with a shout-out to our sister publication over at Linchpin Magazine and their latest issue on delivering capability in regions the world still doesn’t see. But more on that later.
First, Ebola, which is pushing the 100-day mark since the official notification of the outbreak. And as of last update, cases in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have crossed 5,000 and stand at 5,290, with 2,516 deaths. Cases have also been reported from a sixth province now. No vaccine yet, so it looks like CEPI might fail the first real test of its 100 Days mission but last week DRC government authorities requested WHO to release vaccines from its stockpile of shots for the Zaire ebolavirus. The WHO is releasing 70,000 doses, including 20,000 for a phase 3 clinical trial. Ordinarily we would have welcomed this news. But there is little data to indicate that the Ervebo vaccine used for the Zaire virus would work in the current Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak. And if the vaccine doesn’t work, it will only increase the lack of trust in vaccines. In DRC, especially in this outbreak, we are already witnessing how lack of trust in frontline healthcare has manifested in violence against healthcare workers and we fear using a vaccine that may not work may not be the best solution, even if there aren’t other solutions available. And we will be very, very happy to be proved wrong here. Elsewhere, CEPI is also funding four new studies to test if vaccines that worked against Zaire ebolavirus, including Ervebo, could work against Bundibugyo. In a media briefing, the Africa CDC said the numbers in the Ebola outbreak could be three times higher than reported. If true, then this outbreak is already on course to break the record for largest outbreak ever pretty soon.
Disease isn’t all that is on the menu this week. We have disaster again. Earthquakes, specifically. A magnitude 7.7 earthquake, followed by a second, 6.4-magnitude quake, and then nearly 1,000 aftershocks, hit Indonesia late last week. The first quake hit the Flores region in eastern Indonesia, while the second quake struck western Sumatra, with more than 50 people dead.
Speaking of disasters, the UN says 94% of Gaza’s population needs shelter, even as Israel continues its demolition spree. And, in what looks like a bid to boost solidarity, Israel is ramping up demolition in Lebanon as well.
Still on the topic of disasters, blueberries, alfalfa grass, iceberg lettuce, shell eggs, mixed berries, pistachio nut butter, green powder supplements, dips containing jalapeño, salsa and guacamole products, soup kits, salad dressings, granola, dog food, jalapeño peppers, pizza cheese bread products, dried herring fish, requeson cheese, soft ricotta cheese, infant formula, cottage cheese and ricotta products, organic moringa capsules and powder, smoked whole herring, enoki mushrooms, parmesan ranch seasoning, Salmonella, cheese and garlic croutons, tahina, specialty beverages, powdered beverage mixes, potato chips, pork rinds and seasoning products, snack mixes, sour cream and onion cheese curds, flavoured popcorn seasoning, coleslaw products, pita chips, chocolate bars, white cheddar seasoning... phew, those are just some of the products recalled in the last three months in the US. All of these recalls can be traced back to the fact that they no longer have a functioning food safety inspection network in that country. And blueberries? Who even dies from blueberries?
And finally, coffee makes us whole. And swole. It’s just science, baby!
Before we dive into the stories of the week...
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Stories Of The Week
So you want to save lives, eh? On Tuesday, Israel killed 17 people, including at least one child, in different attacks on Gaza. Places attacked included a cafe, a police station, and a refugee camp. Another Palestinian girl died on the same day of severe malnutrition. This was the eve of August 19, so it counts, we guess. Last year on August 19, Israel killed 51 people in Palestine. Not that August 19 is a different date from any other. If you were to go all the way back to 1948 or before even, you would find at least one instance of an Israeli killing a Palestinian every single day. The point of this piece, however, is August 19 because that date is World Humanitarian Day.
And, mainly thanks to Israel, humanitarian work is getting deadlier by the day. And not just by a little. The Aid Worker Security Database recorded 1,187 aid workers as victims of major security incidents in 2025, including 350 killed, 322 wounded and 235 kidnapped. The death toll was the second-highest ever recorded, while kidnappings by non-state and criminal groups nearly doubled from the previous year. Gaza, of course, remained the deadliest context, followed, not surprisingly, by Sudan, South Sudan, the DRC, and Yemen.
National and locally recruited staff account for the overwhelming majority of victims: 1,141 national aid workers were affected by violent incidents in 2025, compared with just 44 international staff. Road travel remained the most dangerous setting, but the threat is increasingly coming from the air, with drone warfare adding a new layer of danger to already volatile environments. In Gaza, 186 aid workers were killed, with 68% of those deaths attributed to aerial bombardment.
And then there is the less visible escalation: 280 aid workers were detained or arrested by state actors in 2025. Yemen alone accounted for nearly a third of those cases, while Yemen, South Sudan, DRC, Myanmar and Palestine together made up 75%. And with Israel taking the lead, aid workers are increasingly being treated not as neutral lifelines, but as part of the conflict.
(OCHA)
Shoo fly, don’t bother me. We’re a little over four years away from the target date for achieving our SDGs. And we’re here to tell you SDG 3 and SDG 6 are both not happening. Why? Well, you’d think a functioning toilet would be a fairly unambitious requirement for a health facility, at least in the year 2026, right? Wrong. A new WHO–UNICEF report finds that just 40% of health-care facilities worldwide met basic sanitation standards in 2025. Water, hygiene and waste management have improved since 2015, but sanitation and environmental cleaning remain stubborn weak spots. Only 59% of facilities met the basic standard for environmental cleaning, leaving patients and health workers exposed to entirely preventable risks. Quick, if you open the window right now, you can see two SDGs wave goodbye.
(WHO)
Bottom line
The future comes calling. There are many people around the world, smart people, who think climate change has really picked up speed over the last, say, two decades. Mother Earth apparently thinks the climate timeline is moving too slowly. And now, using the looming super El Niño, she hopes to push global temperatures up to levels scientists didn’t expect from the underlying warming trend. Researchers now believe there’s a 95% chance next year will be the hottest year ever recorded, with global temperatures potentially reaching 1.67–1.85°C above pre-industrial levels. We already have droughts, disasters, and wars all over the planet with the climate being what it is today. Can you imagine how it will be next September when you have to beat your kindly neighbour to death with a dried-up beetroot just so you can get a bottle of water to last you all winter?
(Earther)
Long reads
Just the one again. But a very good one. A wonderful analysis by Grist about a research paper on the future of infectious diseases. Yes, it is about climate change. And the rise of some diseases. And the rise of some others. And the rise of many more still. Basically, it is best to die. Because if disease won’t kill you, drought will.
(Grist)
And finally, as you may have garnered, The Kable sometimes tends to get dark. Maybe even morose. Which is why we have Linchpin Magazine where our editors find all the silver linings, dark clouds be damned. The latest issue of the magazine is out now, and the first story profiles Sammy Ogunjimi, the never-say-never founder of Codix Bio, who we’ve mentioned a couple of times in The Kable. Excellent read.