scholarly journals Emergent threats: lessons learnt from Ebola

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 334-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Piot ◽  
Moses J Soka ◽  
Julia Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Health Economic ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
West African ◽  
Political Crises ◽  
Lessons Learnt ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Rate Of Emergence ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Many

Abstract Recent disease outbreaks have demonstrated the severe health, economic and political crises that epidemics can trigger. The rate of emergence of infectious diseases is accelerating and, with deepening globalisation, pathogens are increasingly mobile. Yet the 2014–2015 West African Ebola epidemic exposed major gaps in the world’s capacity to prevent and respond to epidemics. In the midst of the world’s second largest ever recorded Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we reflect on six of the many lessons learnt from the epidemic in West Africa, focusing on progress made and the challenges ahead in preparing for future threats. While Ebola and other emerging epidemics will remain a challenge in the years to come, by working in partnership with affected communities and across sectors, and by investing in robust health systems, it is within our power to be better prepared when they strike.

Studying National Commemoration and Political Celebrations in Africa: The Online Archive African Independence Days

2020 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. vii-xxviii
Author(s):  
Marie-Christin Gabriel ◽  
Carola Lentz
Keyword(s):  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Online Archive ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many

AbstractThe Department of Anthropology and African Studies (ifeas) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz hosts a comprehensive archive on African Independence Day celebrations. Created in 2010, the archive is one of the outcomes of a large comparative research project on African national days directed by Carola Lentz. It offers unique insights into practices of as well as debates on national commemoration and political celebrations in Africa. The archive holds more than 28,000 images, including photographs, newspaper articles, documents, and objects from twelve African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, and Tanzania. It primarily consists of an online photo and newspaper archive (https://bildarchiv.uni-mainz.de/AUJ/; https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb07-ifeas-eng/departmental-archives/online-archive-african-independence-days/); some of the material is also stored in the physical archive on African Independence Days at ifeas as well as in the department's ethnographic collection (https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb07-ifeas-eng/ethnographic-collection/). Most of the material concerns recent celebrations, but the collection has been complemented by some documentation of earlier festivities. Archives hold many stories while they also have a story to tell in their own right. This article discusses both aspects. It first traces the history of the Online Archive African Independence Days at ifeas. It then provides an overview of the different categories of material stored in the archive and tells a few of the many stories that the photos, texts and objects contain. We hope to demonstrate that the archive holds a wealth of sources that can be mined for studies on national commemoration and political celebrations in Africa, and, more generally, on practices and processes of nation-building and state-making.

scholarly journals The changing epidemiology of human monkeypox - a potential threat? A systematic review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eveline Bunge ◽  
Bernard Hoet ◽  
Liddy Chen ◽  
Florian Lienert ◽  
Heinz Weidenthaler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Data Extraction ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
West African ◽  
Smallpox Vaccination ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Republic Of The Congo

Monkeypox, a zoonotic disease caused by an orthopoxvirus, results in a smallpox-like disease in humans. Since monkeypox in humans was initially diagnosed in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), it has spread to other regions of Africa (primarily West and Central), and cases outside Africa have emerged in recent years. We conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed and grey literature on how monkeypox epidemiology has evolved, with particular emphasis on the number of confirmed, probable, and/or possible cases, age at presentation, mortality, and geographical spread. The review is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020208269). We identified 48 peer-reviewed articles and 18 grey literature sources for data extraction. The number of human monkeypox cases has been on the rise since the 1970s, with the most dramatic increases occurring in the DRC. The median age at presentation has increased from 4 (1970s) to 21 years (2010-2019). There was an overall case fatality rate of 8.7%, with a significant difference between clades - Central African 10.6% (95% CI: 8.4% - 13.3%) vs. West African 3.6% (95% CI: 1.7% - 6.8%). Since 2003, import- and travel-related spread outside of Africa has occasionally resulted in outbreaks. Interactions/activities with infected animals or individuals are risk behaviors associated with acquiring monkeypox. Our review shows an escalation of monkeypox cases, especially in the highly endemic DRC, a spread to other countries, and a growing median age from young children to young adults. These findings may be related to the cessation of smallpox vaccination, which provided some cross-protection against monkeypox, leading to increased human-to-human transmission. The appearance of outbreaks beyond Africa highlights the global relevance of the disease. Increased surveillance and detection of monkeypox cases are essential tools for understanding the continuously changing epidemiology of this resurging disease.

Saving Lives Now From Ebola in Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
James G. Hodge ◽  
Hannah-Kaye Fleming
Keyword(s):  
Development Process ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Modern History ◽  
Vicious Cycle ◽  
Common Mistake ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
Peace And Development

ABSTRACT In his letter, Peace is a better focus than Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), David M. Brett-Major provides a vital reminder of the tragic undercurrent of violence and political instability dominating African regions currently impacted by the second worst Ebola outbreak in modern history. He characterizes health-centric activities as a “common mistake” to remedy the “vicious cycle” of endemic violence and disease outbreaks in DRC and surrounding areas. What is truly needed is a “concerted peace and development process, with health as a voice in a chorus – not alone.”

Lending a Voice to the Voiceless: The Quest for Justice in Umutesi's Narrative

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aloys Habimana
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Great Lakes Region ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
African Great Lakes ◽  
The Core ◽  
Military Regimes ◽  
The World ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
The Many ◽  
Simple Narrative

Surviving the Slaughter is a powerful narrative that takes us into one of the many tragedies of the African Great Lakes region that affected tens of thousands of helpless Rwandan civilians in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide inside Rwanda. Through the eyes of an ordinary, but also remarkable, woman, we learn the horrifying details of the ordeals that Rwandan refugees in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) went through after their camps were destroyed manu militari. The value of this book goes beyond that of a simple narrative. As we read it, we are absorbed by an account of a breathtaking and excruciating journey of tens of thousands of people as they are hunted down in the dense rainforests of the Congo. At the core of this account is one woman's protest against the absurdity of mass violence and the inhuman brutality of military regimes.At first glance, the book stands out as a strong stand against the corrosive tradition of silence that often accompanies gross violations of human rights, especially those unfolding beyond the scrutiny of the major world media. In a simple but engaging style, Umutesi strips off the usual veneer of reserve that characterizes Rwandans in general and Rwandan women in particular. Rwandans don't usually talk about their experiences, let alone write about them. And writing about the plight of people whom the world has often considered pariahs since the 1994 genocide requires a strong personality.

scholarly journals Evaluating the frequency of asymptomatic Ebola virus infection

2017 ◽  
Vol 372 (1721) ◽  
pp. 20160303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Placide Mbala ◽  
Marc Baguelin ◽  
Ipos Ngay ◽  
Alicia Rosello ◽  
Prime Mulembakani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Asymptomatic Infection ◽  
West African ◽  
Serological Survey ◽  
Asymptomatic Patients ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Demographic Background ◽  
Ebola Virus Infection

The potential for asymptomatic infection from Ebola viruses has long been questioned. Knowing the proportion of infections that are asymptomatic substantially changes the predictions made by mathematical models and alters the corresponding decisions based upon these models. To assess the degree of asymptomatic infection occurring during an Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak, we carried out a serological survey in the Djera district of the Equateur province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo affected by an Ebola outbreak in 2014. We sampled all asymptomatic residents ( n = 182) of 48 households where at least one case of EVD was detected. To control for potential background seroprevalence of Ebola antibodies in the population, we also sampled 188 individuals from 92 households in an unaffected area with a similar demographic background. We tested the sera collected for anti-Ebola IgG and IgM antibodies at four different dilutions. We then developed a mixture model to estimate the likely number of asymptomatic patients who developed IgM and IgG responses to Ebola antigens in both groups. While we detected an association between medium to high titres and age, we did not detect any evidence of increased asymptomatic infection in the individuals who resided in the same household as cases. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The 2013–2016 West African Ebola epidemic: data, decision-making and disease control’.

scholarly journals A tale of two clades: monkeypox viruses

2005 ◽  
Vol 86 (10) ◽  
pp. 2661-2672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna M. Likos ◽  
Scott A. Sammons ◽  
Victoria A. Olson ◽  
A. Michael Frace ◽  
Yu Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Clinical Laboratory ◽  
West African ◽  
Open Reading Frames ◽  
Congo Basin ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Using Data ◽  
And Control ◽  
Reading Frames

Human monkeypox was first recognized outside Africa in 2003 during an outbreak in the USA that was traced to imported monkeypox virus (MPXV)-infected West African rodents. Unlike the smallpox-like disease described in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC; a Congo Basin country), disease in the USA appeared milder. Here, analyses compared clinical, laboratory and epidemiological features of confirmed human monkeypox case-patients, using data from outbreaks in the USA and the Congo Basin, and the results suggested that human disease pathogenicity was associated with the viral strain. Genomic sequencing of USA, Western and Central African MPXV isolates confirmed the existence of two MPXV clades. A comparison of open reading frames between MPXV clades permitted prediction of viral proteins that could cause the observed differences in human pathogenicity between these two clades. Understanding the molecular pathogenesis and clinical and epidemiological properties of MPXV can improve monkeypox prevention and control.

scholarly journals African elements in Saramaccan Maroon plant names in Suriname

Botany ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte I.E.A. Van't Klooster ◽  
Vinije Haabo ◽  
Margot C. van den Berg ◽  
Piet Stoffelen ◽  
Tinde Van Andel
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
West African ◽  
African Origin ◽  
African Region ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Plant Names ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Scientific Attention

The ancestors of the Saramaccan Maroons, who were brought as enslaved Africans to Suriname, used their ethnobotanical knowledge and native languages to name the flora in their new environment. Little is known about the influence of African languages on Saramaccan plant naming. We hypothesized that Saramaccan plant names were more influenced by Central African languages than found so far based on ethnobotanical research, because data of the Central African region was scarce. We compiled a new database on Saramaccan plant names and compared these names with an unpublished plant name database from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the earlier published NATRAPLAND database on Afro-Surinamese plant names to find comparable plant names for botanically related species in Africa. We further analyzed form, meaning, function, and categories of Saramaccan plant name components by means of dictionaries and grammars. In total, 39% of the Saramaccan plant names had an African origin, of which 44% were African retentions, 54% were innovations and 2% were misidentifications with botanical links to Africa via other plant species. Most retentions were of Central African origin (62%). The Bantu language that contributed most to Saramaccan plant names was Kikongo, followed by West African Kwa languages. Plant names reveal important information on the African origin of the Saramaccans, and deserve more scientific attention.

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