Africa’s CDC declares mpox a public health emergency

Christian Musema, a laboratory nurse, takes a sample from a child declared a suspected case of Mpox at the treatment centre in Munigi, following Mpox cases in Nyiragongo territory near Goma, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo July 19, 2024. (REUTERS)
Christian Musema, a laboratory nurse, takes a sample from a child declared a suspected case of Mpox at the treatment centre in Munigi, following Mpox cases in Nyiragongo territory near Goma, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo July 19, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 14 August 2024
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Africa’s CDC declares mpox a public health emergency

Africa’s CDC declares mpox a public health emergency

NAIROBI: The African Union’s health watchdog on Tuesday declared a public health emergency over the growing mpox outbreak on the continent, saying the move is a “clarion call for action.”
The outbreak has swept through several African countries, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the virus formerly called monkeypox was first discovered in humans in 1970.
“With a heavy heart but with an unyielding commitment to our people, to our African citizens, we declare mpox as public health emergency of continental security,” Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said during an online media briefing.
“Mpox has now crossed borders, affecting thousands across our continent, families have been torn apart and the pain and suffering have touched every corner of our continent,” he said.
According to CDC data as of August 4, there had been 38,465 cases of mpox and 1,456 deaths in Africa since January 2022.
“This declaration is not merely a formality, it is a clarion call to action. It is a recognition that we can no longer afford to be reactive. We must be proactive and aggressive in our efforts to contain and eliminate this threat,” Kaseya said.
It is the first time the Addis Ababa-headquartered agency has used the continental security power it was given in 2022.
The decision is expected to help to mobilize money and other resources early in any efforts to halt the spread of disease.
Boghuma Titanji, assistant professor in medicine at Emory University in the United States, said the CDC declaration was a “crucial step” toward enhancing coordination among African countries and encouraging them to allocate funds to combat the outbreak.
“While there has been substantial criticism of foreign donors for inadequate support, the over-reliance on external aid has highlighted a major flaw in the current response efforts,” Titanji said in a statement.

CDC’s announcement on Tuesday comes ahead of a meeting of the World Health Organization’s emergency committee on August 14 to decide whether to trigger a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) — the highest alarm the WHO can sound.
“What we are declaring today can be complemented by the action WHO can take,” Kaseya said.
The United States said it was in “close coordination” on mpox with DR Congo, other affected countries and health bodies.
“We are tracking closely the spread of mpox in Central Africa. We are pleased to see international leadership in this area,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
He said that the United States so far this year has contributed $17 million beyond already programmed assistance to help African countries prepare and respond to mpox.
In May 2022, mpox infections surged worldwide, mostly affecting gay and bisexual men, due to the Clade IIb strain.
That led the WHO to declare a PHEIC, which lasted from July 2022 to May 2023. The outbreak caused some 140 deaths out of around 90,000 cases.
Titanji, a Cameroonian-born doctor, said that declaration did not however “lead to significant- improved access to diagnostics, therapeutics, or vaccines for African countries.”
Renamed from monkeypox in 2022, mpox is an infectious disease caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact.
The disease causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions.
There are two subtypes of the virus: the more virulent and deadlier Clade I, endemic in the Congo Basin in central Africa; and Clade II, endemic in West Africa.
The cases that have been surging in the DRC since September 2023 are due to a different strain: the Clade Ib subclade.
A PHEIC has been declared by the WHO seven times since 2009: over H1N1 swine flu, poliovirus, Ebola, Zika virus, Ebola again, Covid-19 and mpox.
 

 


SpaceX launches billionaire to conduct the first private spacewalk

SpaceX launches billionaire to conduct the first private spacewalk
Updated 3 sec ago
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SpaceX launches billionaire to conduct the first private spacewalk

SpaceX launches billionaire to conduct the first private spacewalk
  • Unlike his previous chartered flight, tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman shared the cost with SpaceX this time around
  • If all goes as planned, it will be the first time private citizens conduct a spacewalk

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: A daredevil billionaire rocketed back to space Tuesday, aiming to perform the first private spacewalk and venture farther than anyone since NASA’s Apollo moonshots.
Unlike his previous chartered flight, tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman shared the cost with SpaceX this time around, which included developing and testing brand new spacesuits to see how they’ll hold up in the harsh vacuum.
If all goes as planned, it will be the first time private citizens conduct a spacewalk, but they won’t venture away from the capsule. Considered one of the most riskiest parts of spaceflight, spacewalks have been the sole realm of professional astronauts since the former Soviet Union popped open the hatch in 1965, closely followed by the US Today, they are routinely done at the International Space Station.
Isaacman, along with a pair of SpaceX engineers and a former Air Force Thunderbirds pilot, launched before dawn aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida. The spacewalk is scheduled for late Wednesday or Thursday, midway through the five-day flight.
But first the passengers are shooting for way beyond the International Space Station — an altitude of 1,400 kilometers, which would surpass the Earth-lapping record set during NASA’s Project Gemini in 1966. Only the 24 Apollo astronauts who flew to the moon have ventured farther.
The plan is to spend 10 hours at that height — filled with extreme radiation and riddled with debris — before reducing the oval-shaped orbit by half. Even at this lower 435 miles (700 kilometers), the orbit would eclipse the space station and even the Hubble Space Telescope, the highest shuttle astronauts flew.
All four wore SpaceX’s spacewalking suits because the entire Dragon capsule will be depressurized for the two-hour spacewalk, exposing everyone to the dangerous environment.
Isaacman and SpaceX’s Sarah Gillis will take turns briefly popping out of the hatch. They’ll test their white and black-trimmed custom suits by twisting their bodies. Both will always have a hand or foot touching the capsule or attached support structure that resembles the top of a pool ladder. There will be no dangling at the end of their 3.6-meter tethers and no jetpack showboating. Only NASA’s suits at the space station come equipped with jetpacks, for emergency use only.
Pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet and SpaceX’s Anna Menon will monitor the spacewalk from inside. Like SpaceX’s previous astronaut flights, this one will end with a splashdown off the Florida coast.
At a preflight news conference, Isaacman — CEO and founder of the credit card processing company Shift4 — refused to say how much he invested in the flight. “Not a chance,” he said.
SpaceX teamed up with Isaacman to pay for spacesuit development and associated costs, said William Gerstenmaier, a SpaceX vice president who once headed space mission operations for NASA.
“We’re really starting to push the frontiers with the private sector,” Gerstenmaier said.
It’s the first of three trips that Isaacman bought from Elon Musk 2-1/2 years ago, soon after returning from his first private SpaceX spaceflight in 2021. Isaacman bankrolled that tourist ride for an undisclosed sum, taking along contest winners and a childhood cancer survivor. The trip raised hundreds of millions for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Spacesuit development took longer than anticipated, delaying this first so-called Polaris Dawn flight until now. Training was extensive; Poteet said it rivaled anything he experienced during his Air Force flying career.
As SpaceX astronaut trainers, Gillis and Menon helped Isaacman and his previous team — as well as NASA’s professional crews — prepare for their rides.
“I wasn’t alive when humans walked on the moon. I’d certainly like my kids to see humans walking on the moon and Mars, and venturing out and exploring our solar system,” the 41-year-old Isaacman said before liftoff.
Poor weather caused a two-week delay. The crew needed favorable forecasts not only for launch, but for splashdown days later. With limited supplies and no ability to reach the space station, they had no choice but to wait for conditions to improve.


Striking Indian doctors want demands met before returning to work

Striking Indian doctors want demands met before returning to work
Updated 10 min 23 sec ago
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Striking Indian doctors want demands met before returning to work

Striking Indian doctors want demands met before returning to work
  • Hundreds of doctors are demanding better security at hospitals, justice for young doctor raped and killed last month
  • Supreme Court on Monday said doctors had until Tuesday to return to work or they could face “adverse action”

KOLKATA: Junior doctors in India’s state of West Bengal vowed on Tuesday to keep up a protest strike over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor unless their demands were met, flouting a Supreme Court deadline.

Hundreds of doctors are demanding better security at hospitals and justice for the woman, found dead on Aug. 9 in a classroom at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, the state’s capital.

The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front said it would “consider” the court’s order only if its demands were tackled by the deadline.

“Otherwise, we will understand that the government does not wish to end the deadlock,” the group, which represents about 7,000 physicians in the state, said in a statement on Monday.

“In that case, we will hold the government responsible for the situation arising across the state.”

The demands include better safety measures, from adequate security staff and closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras to proper patient services in government hospitals, and the removal of the city’s police chief.

“We don’t see a single CCTV camera being installed after the incident,” said Dr. Shubhendu Malik, a spokesperson for the junior doctors at the R.G. Kar hospital. “There is no rest room, no separate toilets for men and women.”

On Monday, the Supreme Court, which took up the matter in the wake of nationwide outrage over the incident, said the doctors had until the following day to return to work, or they could face “adverse action.”

Protests over the incident spread overseas on the weekend, as thousands of Indians staged demonstrations in 25 countries, including the United States and Japan, to demand justice for the woman.

Rights activists say the attack provides further evidence of the sexual violence Indian women face despite tougher laws introduced after a horrific incident of gang rape and murder in the capital, New Delhi, in 2012.

A police volunteer has been arrested for the crime and the former principal of the college has been arrested over accusations of graft.


Pope Francis hosts East Timor mass for more than half a million faithful

Pope Francis hosts East Timor mass for more than half a million faithful
Updated 49 min 34 sec ago
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Pope Francis hosts East Timor mass for more than half a million faithful

Pope Francis hosts East Timor mass for more than half a million faithful
  • Pilgrims have clamored to the capital to catch a glimpse of the 87-year-old pontiff
  • Many arrived for the mass hours early to get a prime spot, waiting in the heat

DILI, East Timor: Pope Francis hosted a mass for hundreds of thousands of devotees in East Timor on Tuesday, rallying the faithful of the most Catholic country outside the Vatican in tropical heat.
Pilgrims have clamored to the capital to catch a glimpse of the 87-year-old pontiff, greeting him with a rapturous reception in a coastal area of Dili ahead of his sermon.
Around 600,000 people were in attendance at the mass as it got underway, the Vatican said in a statement, citing local authorities.
“I am so happy for everyone in East Timor. Now I want to see Papa Francisco here and give my present to Papa Francisco. I am so emotional,” said Mary Michaela, 17, who said she would attend the service.
It was the main event of the third leg of Francis’s 12-day Asia-Pacific tour, which has already taken in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, and will conclude in Singapore.
Many arrived for the mass hours early to get a prime spot, waiting in the heat.
Firefighters sprayed devotees with water, and many held white-and-yellow Vatican umbrellas to protect themselves from the glaring sun.
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao joined crowds to lift spirits with a sing-along, before pouring water into the mouths of those waiting to perform for Pope Francis.
Earlier on Tuesday he met the Catholic faithful at a cathedral in Dili, calling for the “perfume of the Gospel” to be spread against alcoholism, violence and a lack of respect for women.
On his first day in East Timor, Francis addressed the country’s leaders, hailing a new era of “peace” since independence in 2002, and also called on them to prevent abuse against young people in a nod to recent Catholic Church child abuse scandals.
But it was the mass that rallied the faithful of Asia’s youngest country.
“I am grateful I can join this Holy Mass regardless of my age. I don’t know if I would still be able to come if the pope visited even a few years later,” said 49-year-old housewife Felicidade do Rosario.
Around 300,000 people had officially registered for the mass, the government said.
Hundreds of thousands were estimated to have shown up, bringing an estimated total to nearly half the country’s entire population, according to the Vatican.
“It is a blessing of God to us, the people in this land,” said Atanasio Sarmento de Sousa, a 46-year-old member of the committee organizing the pope’s visit.
The sheer number of people descending on Dili caused at least one local telecom company to inform customers their signal would be affected by the pope’s visit.
In 2023, around a million people congregated in the Democratic Republic of Congo capital Kinshasa for Pope Francis’s visit.
The record is still held by Philippine capital Manila in 2015 where more than six million people are believed to have gathered to see Francis.
This visit is only the second papal trip to East Timor, where around 98 percent of the population is Catholic, after John Paul II in 1989.
East Timor’s capital had a $12 million makeover before the visit, including $1 million spent on an altar where the pope will sit on stage next to a crucifix.
The cost has attracted criticism because East Timor is one of the poorest countries in the world.
Rights groups also say some makeshift homes were demolished in preparation for the mass. The government says they were erected illegally.
Authorities have also relocated street vendors in areas where Francis will travel, prompting further criticism on social media.
However, others who had traveled to see the pope were more optimistic about the occasion.
“There are still many problems that need to be taken care of, but the pope has come here to bring joyful news,” said Felix Kosat, an Indonesian Catholic priest.
“So let’s make changes.”


Indian state imposes curfew after ethnic clashes

Indian state imposes curfew after ethnic clashes
Updated 57 min 29 sec ago
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Indian state imposes curfew after ethnic clashes

Indian state imposes curfew after ethnic clashes
  • Manipur has been rocked by periodic clashes between the Hindu Meitei majority and the Christian Kuki community
  • Manipur is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party

NEW DELHI: Authorities in India’s strife-torn northeastern state of Manipur imposed a curfew on Tuesday after violent rallies staged to condemn the latest round of killings in ethnic clashes.
Manipur has been rocked by periodic clashes for more than a year between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community, dividing the state into ethnic enclaves.
At least 11 people were killed last week as hostilities between the two communities erupted again after months of relative calm.
The curfew was imposed in the state capital Imphal and the surrounding valley after student-led protests on Monday sparked clashes with police.
Students “provoked” security officials protecting the state governor’s residence in Imphal “by pelting stones and throwing plastic bottles,” police said in a statement on Monday.
Protesters in another valley district snatched arms from police and fired at them, the statement said.
“One police personnel was hit on the left thigh by a live round and another police personnel was hit in the face by an unknown projectile,” it said.
A local government notice announced a “total curfew... with immediate effect until further orders.”
Protesters were demanding action against insurgents accused of using “improvised” projectile weapons and drone attacks last week, in what police called a “significant escalation” of violence in Manipur.
Long-standing tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities revolve around competition for land and public jobs.
Rights activists have accused local leaders of exacerbating ethnic divisions for political gain.
Manipur is ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.


Ukraine strikes Moscow in biggest drone attack to date

Ukraine strikes Moscow in biggest drone attack to date
Updated 10 September 2024
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Ukraine strikes Moscow in biggest drone attack to date

Ukraine strikes Moscow in biggest drone attack to date
  • Russia said it destroyed at least 20 Ukrainian attack drones as they swarmed over the Moscow region
  • The drone attacks damaged at high-rise apartment buildings in the Ramenskoye district of the Moscow region

MOSCOW: Ukraine struck the Moscow region on Tuesday in its biggest drone attack so far on the Russian capital, killing at least one woman, wrecking dozens of homes and forcing around 50 flights to be diverted from airports around Moscow.
Russia, the world’s biggest nuclear power, said it destroyed at least 20 Ukrainian attack drones as they swarmed over the Moscow region, which has a population of more than 21 million, and 124 more over eight other regions.
At least one person was killed near Moscow, Russian authorities said. Three of Moscow’s four airports were closed for more than six hours and almost 50 flights were diverted.
Kyiv said Russia, which sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, had attacked it overnight with 46 drones, of which 38 were destroyed.
The drone attacks on Russia damaged at high-rise apartment buildings in the Ramenskoye district of the Moscow region, setting flats on fire, residents told Reuters.
A 46-year-old woman was killed and three people were wounded in Ramenskoye, Moscow regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said.
Residents said they awoke to blasts and fire.
“I looked at the window and saw a ball of fire,” Alexander Li, a resident of the district told Reuters. “The window got blown out by the shockwave.”
Georgy, a resident who declined to give his surname, said he heard a drone buzzing outside his building in the early hours.
“I drew back the curtain and it hit the building right before my eyes, I saw it all,” he said. “I took my family and we ran outside.”
The Ramenskoye district, some 50km southeast of the Kremlin, has a population of around quarter a million of people, according to official data.
More than 70 drones were also downed over Russia’s Bryansk region and tens more over other regions, Russia’s defense ministry said. There was no damage or casualties reported there.
As Russia advances in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv has taken the war to Russia with a cross-border attack in Russia’s western Kursk region that began on Aug. 6 and by carrying out increasingly large drone attacks deep into Russian territory.
DRONE WAR
The war has largely been a grinding artillery and drone war along the 1,000 km (620 mile) heavily fortified front line in southern and eastern Ukraine involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
Moscow and Kyiv have both sought to buy and develop new drones, deploy them in innovative ways, and seek new ways to destroy them — from shotguns to advanced electronic jamming systems.
Both sides have turned cheap commercial drones into deadly weapons while ramping up their own production and assembly to attack targets including tanks, energy infrastructure such as refineries and airfields.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has sought to insulate Moscow from the grinding rigours of the war, says the Ukrainian drone attacks are “terrorism” as they target civilian infrastructure — and has vowed a response.
Moscow and other big Russian cities have largely been insulated from the war.
Russia has hit Ukraine with thousands of missiles and drones in the last two-and-a-half years, killing thousands of civilians, wrecking much of the country’s energy system and damaging commercial and residential properties across the country.
Ukraine says it has a right to strike back deep into Russia, though Kyiv’s Western backers have said they do not want a direct confrontation between Russia and the US-led NATO military alliance.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine about Tuesday’s attacks. Both sides deny targeting civilians.
Tuesday’s attack follow drone attacks Ukraine launched in early September targeting chiefly Russia’s energy and power facilities.
Authorities of the Tula region, which neighbors the Moscow region to its north, said drone wreckage fell onto a fuel and energy facility but the “technological process” of the facility was not affected.