Connect with us

News

Cholera kills nursing mother, 10 others in Ebonyi

Published

on

About 11 persons have died following a cholera outbreak in Ndibokote village of Ezza Inyimagu, Izzi Local Council of Ebonyi State. Meanwhile, African countries and health partners have pledged up to $314 million to a new monkey pox (mpox) fund, the Head, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Jean Kaseya, announced yesterday.

Among the cholera victims is a nursing mother, who left behind a nine-month-old baby. The Commissioner for Health, Moses Ekuma, confirmed this in a statement by the ministry’s spokesman, Lucy Anyim.

Apart from the deceased, about 20 persons affected by the outbreak are reportedly responding to treatment, as efforts have been made to put the disease under control.

Noting that Governor Francis Nwifuru approved the procurement of medical commodities to curtail the outbreak the commissioner added that three treatment centres, including the Iziogo Health Centre, Sudan Mission Onuenyim and Ndibokote village had been established in the area.

Advertisement

Open defecation and poor hygiene have been attributed to the outbreak as most communities got drinking water from streams. Such people were advised to take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease.

Kaseya said $129 million would come from the pandemic fund to support 10 countries impacted by mpox, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan.

“Our team is working with the pandemic fund team to allocate these resources in the 10 countries approved for support,” he said at a virtual news conference.

The funding, created at a meeting of African heads of state earlier this week, is expected to bolster country and regional capacity in critical areas, including disease surveillance, diagnostics, laboratory networks and health workforce while addressing the immediate challenges posed by mpox.

Advertisement

The continental preparedness and response plan for Africa has a budget of about $600 million. Kaseya said the United States also committed to provide $500 million to support the continental response plan and one million vaccine doses.

According to him, Africa has secured 4.4 million vaccine doses against 10 million doses needed to control the disease. A total of 2,910 new cases of mpox and 16 new deaths, mostly in central and eastern Africa, were recorded the last week, according to the latest data from Africa CDC.

More than 32,000 confirmed cases have been recorded on the continent with 840 deaths this year. Compared to the same period last year, Kaseya said there had been more than a 194 per cent increase in cases in 15 African countries.

Mpox cases are steadily increasing across affected countries, Kaseya said, citing contact tracing and low testing capacity among the challenges. The testing rate on the continent stands at 49.5 per cent, whereby many cases cannot be confirmed.

Advertisement

Kaseya said, this week, Africa CDC would deliver available vaccines from the European Union (EU) to some affected countries like Rwanda, Central African Republic (CAR), South Africa, Burundi and Cameroon. DRC, the most affected country in the region, will begin vaccinations in the first week of October.

“Our objective is to stop this outbreak in the next six months and we need full support from member states and our partners,” he said.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

News

Celebrity boxing: Speed Darlington wants rematch after losing to Portable

Published

on

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Nigerian singer Speed Darlington is calling for a rematch against Portable after losing to him in a celebrity boxing match.

Speed Darlington was knocked out in the second round, and he’s unhappy about the outcome.

In a video, he claimed Portable didn’t deserve the win and the prize money, saying he had plans to use the money to build a swimming pool for his community in Imo State.

Advertisement

Portable, I want a rematch. E dey pain me say you dey carry all that money dey go. E dey break my heart.

” I want a rematch. It’s so unfair. You have up to two experience before me and you fight. I never enter ring before. I did not come from poverty,” he said.

“You don’t deserve that money. E dey pain me. I want to build swimming pool for my villagers. I need a rematch, Portable”, he said.

According to Speed Darlington, Portable had an unfair advantage due to his experience, accusing him of using supernatural means to win the fight.

Advertisement

He also claimed he suffered a shoulder injury during the match despite not feeling tired.

Speed Darlington, who wants a rematch, said he needs 30 days to prepare better

Continue Reading

News

Israel’s remote controlled bulldozers breaking ground in Gaza war

Published

on

By

At first glance, there is nothing unusual about the bulky bulldozer turning up soil at a testing site in central Israel, but as it pulled closer it became clear: the driver’s cabin is eerily empty.

This is the Robdozer, a fortified engineering vehicle manned remotely, and in this case operated from a military expo halfway across the globe in Alabama.

Army engineers and military experts say that the Robdozer — the robotic version of Caterpillar’s D9 bulldozer — is the future of automated combat.

The Israeli military has used D9 for years to carry out frontline tasks like trowelling roads for advancing troops, removing rubble and flattening terrain.

Advertisement

But since war in Gaza broke out in October 2023 and later in Lebanon, the Israeli military has increasingly deployed this robotic version in a bid to enhance its field operations and reduce the risks to its troops.

“The idea is to eliminate the person from the cockpit of the dozer,” said Rani, whose team at the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries developed the Robdozer.

An unmanned D9 bulldozer digs up a field during a demonstration to the press at the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) quarters near Tel Aviv on March 26, 2025. Israel’s increasing use of advanced technology on the battlefield, from air defence systems to a broad range of AI-driven intelligence tools, has been well-documented but also criticised for inaccuracies, lack of human oversight and potential violations of international law. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP)

During the Gaza war, the military has increasingly opted for the unmanned version, which can carry out a full range of tasks “even better than a human”, said Rani, using his first name only for security reasons.

Advertisement

While such vehicles and other systems are currently operated by humans, future versions could be autonomous, raising ethical and legal concerns over the unchartered future of warfare being shaped by the Israeli military in the Gaza war.

‘Changing the paradigm’
Israel’s increasing use of advanced technology on the battlefield, from air defence systems to a broad range of AI-driven intelligence tools, has been well-documented but also criticised for inaccuracies, lack of human oversight and potential violations of international law.

Analysts say the growing Israeli deployment of the Robdozer reflects broader global trends towards automation in heavy combat vehicles, like remote-controlled personnel carriers that operate much like drones.

An Israeli military official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told AFP that the army has been using “robotic tools for over a decade, but in very small numbers. Now it is being used in large-scale warfare”.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

News

70-hour Chess Marathon: Onakoya reportedly breaks record set by Norwegians

Published

on

By

Nigerian chess sensation and founder of Chess in Slums Africa, Tunde Onakoya, has broken the chess marathon record of 61 hours, 3 minutes, and 34 seconds, set by two Norwegian players, Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad, in June 2024.

Onakoya and his chess partner, Shawn Martinez, are currently aiming to complete a 70-hour chess marathon in Times Square, New York.

The marathon, a four-day non-stop gameplay, started on April 17.

In a post shared on X shortly after surpassing the current record, he expressed fulfillment and called for action to educate and create opportunities for street children in Nigeria.

Advertisement

For all the dreamers! We’ve officially BROKEN THE RECORD with my brother,” he wrote.

Although the official confirmation from Guinness World Records is still being awaited, Nigerians and chess lovers from different parts of the world have congratulated the chess master on his latest achievement.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 Naija Blitz News