Hantavirus and Ebola Fever: An Island Full of Viruses
This article from taz.de, published July 18, 2026, reports on the Friedrich Loeffler Institute on the Baltic Sea island of Riems, a high-security research facility where the world's most dangerous pathogens have been studied for over 100 years. Located off Greifswald in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the island hosts around 400 workers behind barbed wire and guarded gates. The facility researches viruses including SARS-CoV-2, hantavirus, and Ebola. The article traces the history of the institute back to the 19th century when foot-and-mouth disease devastated European livestock. Physicians Friedrich Loeffler and Paul Frosch discovered the first animal virus (foot-and-mouth disease) in 1898. The piece highlights the inherent dangers of virus research, noting historical accidents and escapes, and frames the work as crucial for preventing future pandemics.
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