💉Ebola continues to run riot; Air pollution keeps on rising; The WHO wants to kill the fungus
#611 | Claude wants to make some drugs; The oceans desperately need some cooling down; Researchers make vaccines from compost
Hello, and welcome back to The Kable. Last week, we saw Europe, in the form of the UK and Spain, adapt anti-trans legislation from the US. This week, Europe’s returning the favour by sending some heat back to America. Not that the heat is any lesser in Europe but hey, let them have cake.
In Ebola news, the outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) shows no signs of abating. The latest update from the health ministry shows confirmed cases at 1,406 with 438 deaths. Worryingly, there is still a large number – over 17% – of untraced contacts. Cases have spread to two new provinces over the past week, with authorities banning gatherings as a means to curtail further spread. Experts, meanwhile, worry that we’ve not even begun to see the peak of the outbreak yet. In potential good news, WHO’s PARTNERS (Platform Adaptive Randomised Trial for New and Repurposed Filovirus TreatmentS) clinical trial – to test an antiviral drug and an antibody cocktail – has begun but in a secret location. The Africa CDC has asked for an urgent infusion of $18 million to help with research, trials and outbreak response. The WHO also added the first diagnostic test for the Bundibugyo virus to its Emergency Use Listing, a molecular RT-PCR assay that detects BDBV by identifying viral genetic material in blood samples.
In Uganda, no new Ebola cases have been recorded in over 10 days, but it looks like there may be an outbreak of Marburg brewing over there. There is a bit of conflicting information here and no official info available yet on either Africa CDC or WHO channels but reports say two cases have been notified to the WHO, with one death. Uganda has had five Marburg outbreaks before, most recently in 2017, when it contained the outbreak within one month. In this particular instance though, there is no confirmation even from Ugandan health authorities about any outbreak. Also, the one confirmed death is an 18-month-old child, who is very unlikely to be the index patient, if there were an outbreak.
Marburg or not, experts are worried about malaria in Congo because, with history as proof, more people die of malaria during an Ebola outbreak than of Ebola itself.
Speaking of dying, spare a thought for the poor Andes hantavirus which couldn’t even have a proper day out in the sun, failing to dominate headlines for even a fortnight. The WHO has now declared the outbreak so over.
Tanzania has become the newest African nation to sign up to the US’ America-first bilateral health deal. In the announcement, Tanzanian authorities proactively said the deal does not include specimen sharing, and that Tanzania and the US share priorities in, among other things, health and human development. Pity there is no readily available emoji for irony.
It wasn’t too long ago that Big Pharma and Big Tech were two distinct entities, each trying to extract everything they could while putting on a benevolent face. Lately, that distinction is increasingly blurry. Blurring it even further is Anthropic, who this week launched Claude Science, an AI tool to help drugmakers discover drugs.
And finally, the UN has its first global AI assessment out. The report, with the usual mealy-mouthed title, covers advances in AI, applications in science, health, education and agriculture, implications for economies, and the environment, among others, and the impact of AI on human rights, information, democracy, child safety, and a whole bunch of other factors. However, considering that this panel also includes someone who was part of the Israeli military’s Unit 8200, yeah, we aren’t taking anything this panel has to say about AI’s impact on anything human seriously.
Stories Of The Week
Not done with Ebola yet. Why? Because a new UNDP assessment says the ongoing outbreak is likely to push nearly one million additional people into poverty. Because it is not just the the immediate health toll that needs counting. The disease disrupts trade, closes borders, and destroys informal livelihoods, hitting women hardest as they dominate cross-border commerce and caregiving roles. Even if contained soon, which is not looking likely, the economic damage could exceed $1 billion in GDP losses for the DRC alone, wiping out tens of thousands of jobs and halting education and healthcare services. The ripple effects threaten to undo years of fragile development gains across neighbouring countries too.
(UNDP)
Hungry AF. Northern Nigeria is facing its worst hunger crisis in nearly a decade, driven by escalating conflict and severe cuts to humanitarian aid. Over 17 million people across nine states are now experiencing crisis-level food insecurity, with hundreds of thousands in Borno state alone facing catastrophic starvation. Insurgent attacks have spread beyond their traditional strongholds, displacing families, destroying farmland, and blocking aid routes. With funding shortfalls forcing agencies to slash assistance, millions of vulnerable people, particularly children, are left without life-saving nutrition support. The collapse of aid networks has triggered desperate coping mechanisms, including recruitment into armed groups and increased gender-based violence. Women and girls, as always, bear the brunt of the crisis, facing heightened risks of exploitation as resources vanish.
(WFP)
The SDGs? Who even believes in them anymore? If last week, it was SDG.7 on the brink, this week, we’re talking air pollution so SDG.3 and SDG.11 join in the fun too. Global progress on reducing air pollution hit a wall after 2020 and hasn’t moved since. While high-income nations have managed to lower fine particulate matter levels, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) continue to breathe dangerously polluted air. Roughly 6.5 billion people live in areas exceeding even the least strict safety guidelines, with the burden falling disproportionately on poorer regions. Asia shows some improvement, but Africa and parts of Western Asia remain stagnant, meaning billions are still exposed to toxins linked to heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and respiratory illnesses.
Indoor pollution remains a silent killer, with 2 billion people still relying on inefficient stoves and dirty fuels for cooking. Rural areas in low-income nations are seeing rising pollution levels, while urban centres slowly improve. The gap between those who can afford clean energy and those trapped by poverty keeps on widening. So those sci-fi movies where air quality was a marker of economic privilege aren’t too far from becoming reality, if they aren’t already. Without urgent policy shifts and investment in clean technologies for developing regions, these health disparities will only deepen. Oh. These health disparities will deepen.
(WHO)
Who’s a fun guy? Not me! Fungal infections, often dismissed as minor annoyances like athlete’s foot, are quietly killing millions and resisting treatment, yet they’ve been largely ignored by global health agendas. Heck, mortality stats for fungal diseases are comparable to major infectious diseases but they still have a disproportionately weak therapeutic pipeline. The neglect stems from a combination of underfunding and the misconception that fungi are less dangerous than bacteria or viruses. However, with agricultural chemicals and medical overuse driving resistance, deadly invasive fungal infections are becoming harder to treat. A new WHO blueprint aims to fix this oversight by addressing the rising threat of antifungal resistance and improving diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance. These diseases affect over 300 million people annually, hitting immunocompromised individuals hardest, but they rarely make it into national health plans or antimicrobial resistance strategies. The new plan calls for better stewardship of antifungals, expanded access to diagnostics, and integrated One Health approaches to curb environmental drivers of resistance. The new framework seeks to integrate fungal threats into broader public health monitoring, train healthcare workers, and support research into neglected pathogens. The question remains though: development costs are high. Commercial incentives are thin. Will Big Pharma step in? Wait, don’t answer that. Let us live in hope.
(WHO)
Breakthroughs
Did we just say fungus and hope? Well, well, well... A South African research team has turned a fungus harvested from compost into a potential game-changer for vaccine independence on the continent. By using this modified fungal platform, they can produce virus-like particles cheaply and quickly without the need for ultra-cold storage or expensive mammalian cell cultures. Early tests show promise for both livestock diseases like Rift Valley Fever and human vaccines, including one tailored to HPV strains prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. The goal is to shift Africa from being a mere packaging hub for imported medicines to a centre of genuine design and manufacturing, potentially dropping costs to around a dollar per dose.
This approach tackles two major hurdles: cost and infrastructure. Traditional vaccine development requires millions of dollars and specialised facilities that LMICs lack. This fungal method uses basic fermentation techniques available locally and produces doses stable at standard refrigerator temperatures, easing distribution in remote areas. Sure, regulatory and funding challenges lie ahead but this is pure innovation, and one that could lead the path that Africa has been seeking toward sovereign health security.
(Gavi)
Bottom line
That ocean, it’s so hot right now. Global sea surface temperatures have officially smashed the record set in 2024, pushing Earth into what scientists are generously calling “uncharted territory.” We’ve mentioned previously that we aren’t betting people. But to borrow a metaphor, this ocean warming is a perfect storm of human-driven climate change loading the dice and a strong El Niño rolling them. The oceans, having absorbed 90% of excess heat from global warming over the last century, are now so primed that a natural weather cycle easily tips them into new highs. Experts warn this isn’t a blip but likely the start of a sustained era of extreme warmth, setting the stage for 2026 and 2027 to dethrone previous hot years while fueling stronger storms, faster ice melt, and more chaotic weather patterns worldwide.
And yes, you know how the story goes. Warmer waters mean more energy for hurricanes, increased evaporation leading to heavier rainfall and flooding, and accelerated marine heatwaves that devastate ecosystems. What used to be a once-in-lifetime kinda record is rapidly becoming/has become the new baseline. The window for preventing further escalation theoretically exists but it is a really narrow window. If you live on the coast anywhere, brace for impact.
(Copernicus)
Long reads
The long road ahead. Making its entry for the first time in The Kable, Semafor Africa talks about the challenge ahead for Africa’s vaccine sovereignty goal. And it may not be the most obvious one(s).
(Semafor)