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When I visit the live poultry vendor in a local market near my home in Lagos, I worry about the risk of infection. That’s because Nigeria has been battling frequent bird flu outbreaks since 2006, raising the risk, as Virologist Clement Meseko points out, of spillover infections to humans. The most recent one started in 2021, and it’s part of the largest bird flu outbreak worldwide. Meseko says Nigeria is prone to these outbreaks because it lies on the migratory route of many birds, which then infect local poultry. He warns that frequent bird flu outbreaks could lead to the virus becoming endemic in Nigeria.
Tens of thousands of years ago, a species of horse made its way across the sandy dunes of southern Africa’s coast. The Giant Cape Zebra outweighed its modern relatives by a good 150kg. Charles Helm explains what the tracks left by those huge hooves so long ago can tell us today.
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Clement Meseko, National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Jos
Bird flu has been recurring in Africa since 2006 and Nigeria is heavily affected. High-level biosecurity measures are required to keep people and animals safe.
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Charles Helm, Nelson Mandela University
It hasn’t been clear how common the species was on the Cape south coast because its body fossils are predominantly from southern Africa’s west coast.
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Boniface Oyugi, University of Kent
User fees is a major barrier to healthcare, including maternal and newborn care in Kenya.
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Franzisca Zanker, Arnold Bergstraesser Institute
In Tunisia, scapegoating migrants diverts from the continuous failure of government to solve deep economic and social crisis.
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Ofentse Olunloyo, University of Johannesburg; Tankiso Moloi, University of Johannesburg
By sharing resources and equipment, SMEs could reduce operational costs and increase their resilience in the face of power cuts.
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Sioux McKenna, Rhodes University; Dan Dixon, University of Sydney; Daniel Oppenheimer, Carnegie Mellon University; Margaret Blackie, Rhodes University; Sam Illingworth, Edinburgh Napier University
Les élèves ont pu se familiariser avec la pensée critique, l'écriture et le rôle plus large des outils d'intelligence artificielle tels que les chatbots.
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From our international editions
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Sara Sawyer, University of Colorado Boulder; Emma Worden-Sapper, University of Colorado Boulder; Sharon Wu, University of Colorado Boulder
Avian influenza viruses have evolved to infect birds, but the current H5N1 outbreak is also infecting a wide range of mammals. This suggests that it could mutate into forms that threaten humans.
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Ashley S. Deeks, University of Virginia
International law states that states have to operate ‘due regard’ for the right of nations to fly drones above international waters. Washington claims Russia violated this standard in incident.
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John Tobin, National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Astronomers have long known where water is first formed in the universe and how it ends up on planets, asteroids and comets. A recent discovery has finally answered what happens in between.
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Paul Rogers, University of Bradford
There are big power plays afoot in one of the world’s most contested and unstable regions.
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