Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or ME/CFS, is a devastating disease. It often leads to a high degree of physical disability. Some 17-24 million people are affected by ME/CFS worldwide, with women affected more often than men.

Despite this large number of sufferers, ME/CFS is relatively unknown to both the general public and physicians. Even though it was included in the International Classification of Neurological Diseases by the World Health Organization as early as 1969, research into the disease is still in its infancy. Currently, there are no drugs or therapies available to treat the disease at its root.

Those affected are usually labeled as depressed or mentally ill. But the new virus Sars-CoV-2, which has infected more than 100 million people worldwide so far, makes the disease particularly relevant. Some people infected with Covid-19 still suffer from long-term effects weeks and months later — and their symptoms look a lot like those of ME/CFS sufferers.

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The Friedrich Loeffler Institute on the island of Riems can only be reached via a single bridge. The island lies in the Baltic Sea, and its isolated location is vital: Dangerous viruses are stored here, including Ebola, Rabies, Swine Fever, Crimean-Congo Fever and Sars-CoV-2.

The facility is one of only three such laboratories in the world – and the only one in Europe – where dangerous diseases can be researched using live animals such as cattle and pigs under high-security conditions. Researchers are working to understand how new pathogens spread, and to develop vaccines. It’s a race against time, as viruses have long since come to have enormous global consequences.

African Swine Fever is on the rise in Eastern Europe. In Germany, wild boars were found dead of ASF for the first time in the fall of 2020. It’s vital to stop the further spread of the disease. So far in Germany, its rampant spread has been limited to wild pigs, but there is a high risk that the virus will begin to affect pig farms.

An outbreak in Germany, the world’s third-largest pork producer, would be an economic disaster. Now, a promising potential vaccine is being tested in Riems. It could prove to be a life-saving solution.

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