Latest additions to the knowledge base

An experimental Ebola vaccine is being administered for the first time to contain an outbreak in the DRC. No vaccine has yet been licensed to control the Ebola virus, but the WHO has decided to vaccinate about 600 people on a compassionate basis and following approval from Congolese authorities.

Authorities in Congo have begun to use a pioneering vaccine to help stem a growing Ebola outbreak. However, challenges lie ahead as officials race against the virus to identify people in the high-risk groups being targeted for vaccination. Officials must also tackle cultural and logistical obstacles, including transportation issues and a lack of health infrastructure.

A new Ebola outbreak has been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with 44 cases reported so far, including one in a city of 1.2 million people. While WHO says they will use contact tracing to monitor everyone who may have been exposed, community monitoring of entire neighbourhoods may be needed to stop Ebola from spreading.

As Congo has confirmed 34 Ebola cases this year, adequate finance preparedness at home and abroad is crucial. The United States' emergency fund should be increased and encompass foreign countries, while incentives for preparedness should be better defined and funded. Furthermore, money for global public goods should be spent on preparedness.

WHO helicoptered in a team of experts and released $1 million in funding the same day that the Democratic Republic of Congo confirmed two new cases of Ebola. WHO's reaction illustrates its accelerated emergency response system after being criticized for its slow response to the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

This second edition of the Handbook for Southern Africa on Climate Risk and Vulnerability follows on the entry into force of the Paris Climate Change Agreement of 2015. The handbook launches a series of re-definitions, concepts and programmes.

This profile aims to give insight in the climate change effects and impacts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (East); its policies, priorities and commitments; and key climate-relevant activities that are financed with international assistance.

Ebola outbreaks tend to occur two years after trees have been cut down or forests have been cleared in West and Central Africa, a new study suggests. The study is the first to show a correlation in time between deforestation and the onset of the viral disease, suggesting that deforestation data could help predict future outbreaks.