Research results and inventions have been converted to use by evil people with evil intentions. The thought of Communist China or Mideast terrorists using swarms of mosquitoes as "flying syringes" against those they seek to destroy is beyond terrifying.

A sub-Saharan African nation has been declared malaria-free for the first time in 50 years.

Cape Verde was given the status by the World Health Organization (WHO) as it has not reported a single case of local transmission in three years.

Experts have described this as a major achievement.

Malaria is a huge killer on the continent. In 2022, 580,000 people in Africa died from the disease, amounting to 95% of fatalities worldwide.

The disease is caused by a complex parasite which is spread by mosquito bites.

Vaccines are now being used in some places but monitoring the disease and avoiding mosquito bites are the most effective ways to prevent malaria.

Cape Verde, a small island nation off the coast of West Africa, has taken years to reach this point by strengthening its health systems and increasing access to diagnosis and treatment of all cases.

Surveillance officers have been detecting cases early, as well as controlling mosquitoes. //

On an island, it is easier to map out the areas most affected by the disease and see how it is being transferred from one island to another, compared to a continuous land mass.

In badly affected countries such as Nigeria, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo, there is a highly mobile population regularly crossing borders, making it difficult for one country to eradicate the disease on its own.

Cape Verde's success "gives us hope that with existing tools, as well as new ones including vaccines, we can dare to dream of a malaria-free world", WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

The last country in sub-Saharan Africa to be declared malaria-free was the island nation of Mauritius in 1973. Algeria, in North Africa, achieved this status in 2019.