West African scientists warn of weakening health systems amid outbreak risks

In Lomé, Togo, laboratory scientists from across West Africa gathered this week to deliver a warning that transcends any single outbreak: the region's capacity to detect disease before it spreads is quietly deteriorating, and the cost of inaction is measured in lives. Drawing on the memory of the 2014–2016 Ebola crisis, which claimed at least 11,000 lives, and the ongoing Congo outbreak now spreading faster than any Ebola event on record, these scientists are asking governments to do something historically difficult — to invest in preparation during the silence before catastrophe. The lesson,