Fiona Callaghan
@fionaepi.bsky.social
Epidemiologist, Science advisor, posts are personal
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
This is a fabulous interview e-tangata.co.nz/korero/corin...
Corina Grey: Health inequalities aren't inevitable | E-Tangata
“You can't separate the conditions in which people live from their health. They're completely interwoven, and I absolutely feel a deep sense of responsibility and commitment to addressing those wider ...
e-tangata.co.nz
November 20, 2025 at 6:49 PM
This is a fabulous interview e-tangata.co.nz/korero/corin...
Wonderfully funny and informative post on how to avoid potluck infamy 😀🤢
It’s officially potluck season withoffice parties galore. 🦃🥘 If, like me, you harbor an irrational fear of food poisoning, I’ve got you covered. Here’s your ID doctor–approved guide to surviving the season’s buffets w/out ending up in the ER.
🧤🍽️💀
open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...
🧤🍽️💀
open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...
An ID Doctor’s Guide to Surviving Holiday Potlucks Food Poisoning Free
Because nothing says “festive” like avoiding an impromptu Norovirus outbreak.
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Wonderfully funny and informative post on how to avoid potluck infamy 😀🤢
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
It’s officially potluck season withoffice parties galore. 🦃🥘 If, like me, you harbor an irrational fear of food poisoning, I’ve got you covered. Here’s your ID doctor–approved guide to surviving the season’s buffets w/out ending up in the ER.
🧤🍽️💀
open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...
🧤🍽️💀
open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...
An ID Doctor’s Guide to Surviving Holiday Potlucks Food Poisoning Free
Because nothing says “festive” like avoiding an impromptu Norovirus outbreak.
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:05 PM
It’s officially potluck season withoffice parties galore. 🦃🥘 If, like me, you harbor an irrational fear of food poisoning, I’ve got you covered. Here’s your ID doctor–approved guide to surviving the season’s buffets w/out ending up in the ER.
🧤🍽️💀
open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...
🧤🍽️💀
open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...
Cool data dashboard "What is the Whaitua Mapping Tool?
An online mapping platform designed to visualise detailed information about local communities across Aotearoa." atiawatoaimpb.nz/faqs-whaitua...
An online mapping platform designed to visualise detailed information about local communities across Aotearoa." atiawatoaimpb.nz/faqs-whaitua...
September 8, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Cool data dashboard "What is the Whaitua Mapping Tool?
An online mapping platform designed to visualise detailed information about local communities across Aotearoa." atiawatoaimpb.nz/faqs-whaitua...
An online mapping platform designed to visualise detailed information about local communities across Aotearoa." atiawatoaimpb.nz/faqs-whaitua...
"Some people and their dogs have been training for it all year. And some of them, one suspects, have not"
Read this by Nicholas Lezard. It’s very funny.
Feed: "New Statesman"
By: Nicholas Lezard on Wednesday, June 4, 2025
By: Nicholas Lezard on Wednesday, June 4, 2025
June 18, 2025 at 7:08 PM
"Some people and their dogs have been training for it all year. And some of them, one suspects, have not"
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
🇨🇦 Canada has secured 500,000 doses of an updated H5N1 (avian influenza) vaccine.
Here's a Canadian perspective in @CMAJ on what this means, with colleagues from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Link: www.cmaj.ca/content/197/...
Here's a Canadian perspective in @CMAJ on what this means, with colleagues from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Link: www.cmaj.ca/content/197/...
June 2, 2025 at 7:05 AM
🇨🇦 Canada has secured 500,000 doses of an updated H5N1 (avian influenza) vaccine.
Here's a Canadian perspective in @CMAJ on what this means, with colleagues from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Link: www.cmaj.ca/content/197/...
Here's a Canadian perspective in @CMAJ on what this means, with colleagues from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Link: www.cmaj.ca/content/197/...
Latest wastewater dashboard for NZ from the ESR team -- a bit of an uptick. poops.nz
ESR Wastewater Surveillance
www.poops.nz
June 1, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Latest wastewater dashboard for NZ from the ESR team -- a bit of an uptick. poops.nz
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
The Ministry of Health is now posting on Bluesky. Follow us to be alerted to our consultations, news and announcements. We welcome your respectful and relevant comments and reserve the right to take action against posts that violate our community guidelines:
Social media community guidelines | Ministry of Health NZ
The Ministry engages with the community and provides important safety and public health information through accounts on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.
www.health.govt.nz
May 25, 2025 at 10:00 PM
The Ministry of Health is now posting on Bluesky. Follow us to be alerted to our consultations, news and announcements. We welcome your respectful and relevant comments and reserve the right to take action against posts that violate our community guidelines:
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
READ. THE. SUBHEAD.
May 9, 2025 at 9:38 PM
READ. THE. SUBHEAD.
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
Raccoon With Meth Pipe Found In Driver’s Seat Of Car
theonion.com/raccoon...
theonion.com/raccoon...
May 9, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Raccoon With Meth Pipe Found In Driver’s Seat Of Car
theonion.com/raccoon...
theonion.com/raccoon...
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
120 light years from Earth, there's a planet that may be covered in a living ocean. Here's my story on a tantalizing hint of life beyond the Solar System. Gift link: nyti.ms/3GbrEaZ 🧪
Astronomers Detect a Signature of Life on a Distant Planet (Gift Article)
Further studies are needed to determine whether K2-18b, which orbits a star 120 light-years away, is inhabited, or even habitable.
nyti.ms
April 16, 2025 at 11:05 PM
120 light years from Earth, there's a planet that may be covered in a living ocean. Here's my story on a tantalizing hint of life beyond the Solar System. Gift link: nyti.ms/3GbrEaZ 🧪
An inside perspective on the damage to the FDA that will have implications for global medical regulation and research johnshopkinssph.libsyn.com/880-the-fda-...
Public Health On Call: 880 - “The FDA As We’ve Known It Is Finished”
About this episode: Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services abruptly fired around 10,000 employees, 3,500 of which were within the FDA alone—an organization of around 18,000 total emplo...
johnshopkinssph.libsyn.com
April 8, 2025 at 8:51 PM
An inside perspective on the damage to the FDA that will have implications for global medical regulation and research johnshopkinssph.libsyn.com/880-the-fda-...
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
Great🧵 re flu in Oz. TLDR 👇
So what does that mean.
1️⃣ The headlines are partly right. More/early cases than ever before, but may be due to more testing capacity.
2️⃣ No indication of severity yet
3️⃣ What will the season bring? We can only *guess*.
4️⃣ Get vaccinated so you're covered. Not because fear, because sensible.
1️⃣ The headlines are partly right. More/early cases than ever before, but may be due to more testing capacity.
2️⃣ No indication of severity yet
3️⃣ What will the season bring? We can only *guess*.
4️⃣ Get vaccinated so you're covered. Not because fear, because sensible.
a woman in a black tank top is making a funny face and says " you 're gonna do great "
ALT: a woman in a black tank top is making a funny face and says " you 're gonna do great "
media.tenor.com
April 3, 2025 at 3:48 AM
Great🧵 re flu in Oz. TLDR 👇
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
"a faecal immunochemical test-based programme was non-inferior to a colonoscopy-based programme for colorectal cancer-related mortality"
-so an easier test, among invitees, was as good as a more complex one. Excellent news for Australia's over 50s at-home, mail-in, faeces screening testing program.
-so an easier test, among invitees, was as good as a more complex one. Excellent news for Australia's over 50s at-home, mail-in, faeces screening testing program.
The first randomized trial comparing fecal occult blood testing (every other year) testing and (one-time) colonoscopy. No significant difference in colon cancer mortality among >56,000 participants
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... @thelancet.bsky.social
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... @thelancet.bsky.social
March 29, 2025 at 11:39 PM
"a faecal immunochemical test-based programme was non-inferior to a colonoscopy-based programme for colorectal cancer-related mortality"
-so an easier test, among invitees, was as good as a more complex one. Excellent news for Australia's over 50s at-home, mail-in, faeces screening testing program.
-so an easier test, among invitees, was as good as a more complex one. Excellent news for Australia's over 50s at-home, mail-in, faeces screening testing program.
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
#FDA top vaccines regulator Peter Marks is forced out by HHS Secretary Kennedy. Marks didn't mince words in his resignation letter: "It has become clear ... [Kennedy] wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.” www.statnews.com/2025/03/28/f...
Peter Marks, FDA’s top vaccine regulator, forced out
Top FDA official Peter Marks was forced to resign as the director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
www.statnews.com
March 29, 2025 at 3:49 AM
#FDA top vaccines regulator Peter Marks is forced out by HHS Secretary Kennedy. Marks didn't mince words in his resignation letter: "It has become clear ... [Kennedy] wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.” www.statnews.com/2025/03/28/f...
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
Some updates on HHS reorg:
- Secy aides want reorg goals fast, often within 10 days
- cuts expected at HRSA include Provider Relief Bureau, could leave >$1B uncollected
- CDC and ASPR have only until Sat to come up with merger plan
www.cbsnews.com/news/job-cut...
- Secy aides want reorg goals fast, often within 10 days
- cuts expected at HRSA include Provider Relief Bureau, could leave >$1B uncollected
- CDC and ASPR have only until Sat to come up with merger plan
www.cbsnews.com/news/job-cut...
March 28, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Some updates on HHS reorg:
- Secy aides want reorg goals fast, often within 10 days
- cuts expected at HRSA include Provider Relief Bureau, could leave >$1B uncollected
- CDC and ASPR have only until Sat to come up with merger plan
www.cbsnews.com/news/job-cut...
- Secy aides want reorg goals fast, often within 10 days
- cuts expected at HRSA include Provider Relief Bureau, could leave >$1B uncollected
- CDC and ASPR have only until Sat to come up with merger plan
www.cbsnews.com/news/job-cut...
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
Why is the discovery of Japanese encephalitis virus in mosquitoes collected from suburban Brisbane such a concern? It really upends our understanding of a group of mosquito-borne pathogens with life threatening consequences and how authorities around Australia should respond...
March 16, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Why is the discovery of Japanese encephalitis virus in mosquitoes collected from suburban Brisbane such a concern? It really upends our understanding of a group of mosquito-borne pathogens with life threatening consequences and how authorities around Australia should respond...
a link to the full report proposing for the NZ science research system www.mbie.govt.nz/assets/scien...
www.mbie.govt.nz
January 23, 2025 at 3:17 AM
a link to the full report proposing for the NZ science research system www.mbie.govt.nz/assets/scien...
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
New: Trump officials have paused all external communications at health agencies like CDC, FDA, NIH.
No health alerts and the famed MMWRs; no updates to key websites or social media posts.
And no indication how long the pause will last.
With @rachelroubein.bsky.social + Lena Sun.
No health alerts and the famed MMWRs; no updates to key websites or social media posts.
And no indication how long the pause will last.
With @rachelroubein.bsky.social + Lena Sun.
Trump officials pause health agencies’ communications, citing review
The agencies are charged with making decisions that touch the lives of every American and are the source of crucial information to health-care providers.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 22, 2025 at 12:30 AM
New: Trump officials have paused all external communications at health agencies like CDC, FDA, NIH.
No health alerts and the famed MMWRs; no updates to key websites or social media posts.
And no indication how long the pause will last.
With @rachelroubein.bsky.social + Lena Sun.
No health alerts and the famed MMWRs; no updates to key websites or social media posts.
And no indication how long the pause will last.
With @rachelroubein.bsky.social + Lena Sun.
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
2025 will be the hottest year on record, and it will hold that title for one year.
December 26, 2024 at 9:08 PM
2025 will be the hottest year on record, and it will hold that title for one year.
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
Interesting development from DRC on mystery outbreak.
Seem influenza (type/subtype unknown) not malaria is identified the cause on a malnutrition & malaria background
Keen to hear updates on this esp flu type from DRC & @who.int
Seem influenza (type/subtype unknown) not malaria is identified the cause on a malnutrition & malaria background
Keen to hear updates on this esp flu type from DRC & @who.int
Following a meeting of the Council of Ministers late Friday, DRC spokesperson Patrick Muyaya confirmed that influenza has been formally identified as the cause of the mysterious outbreak in Kwango province.
Coinfections identified in many of the patients, including COVID, rhinovirus, malaria, etc.
Coinfections identified in many of the patients, including COVID, rhinovirus, malaria, etc.
RDC: Grippe identifiée comme cause probable de la maladie mystérieuse - Afrique sur 7
Un mystère de santé publique semble se résoudre en République Démocratique du Congo (RDC).
www.afrique-sur7.fr
December 22, 2024 at 12:18 AM
Interesting development from DRC on mystery outbreak.
Seem influenza (type/subtype unknown) not malaria is identified the cause on a malnutrition & malaria background
Keen to hear updates on this esp flu type from DRC & @who.int
Seem influenza (type/subtype unknown) not malaria is identified the cause on a malnutrition & malaria background
Keen to hear updates on this esp flu type from DRC & @who.int
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
Mad props to the New Orleans department of health for not cowering to anti-science, anti-expertise, anti-vaccine bullying.
This is called standing on business.
#vaccineswork
This is called standing on business.
#vaccineswork
December 21, 2024 at 2:36 AM
Mad props to the New Orleans department of health for not cowering to anti-science, anti-expertise, anti-vaccine bullying.
This is called standing on business.
#vaccineswork
This is called standing on business.
#vaccineswork
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
Great to see this study based on a ferret challenge model showing that an mRNA-based influenza vaccine targeting highly pathogenic H5N1 protected animals against lethal infection. In the event of a large outbreak in humans we will need scalable vaccine platforms.🧪
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
An influenza mRNA vaccine protects ferrets from lethal infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus
A(H5N1) mRNA vaccines elicited neutralizing antibodies against 2.3.4.4b HPAI isolates from 2022 and 2024 and protected ferrets from lethal infection.
www.science.org
December 19, 2024 at 1:45 AM
Great to see this study based on a ferret challenge model showing that an mRNA-based influenza vaccine targeting highly pathogenic H5N1 protected animals against lethal infection. In the event of a large outbreak in humans we will need scalable vaccine platforms.🧪
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Fiona Callaghan
The mystery illness in the #DRC was revealed to be #Malaria. The world will move on and the epidemics of poverty and inequity to healthcare access will persist. We cannot address the threat of pandemics by ignoring poverty.
Check out my latest #substack on this
open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...
Check out my latest #substack on this
open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...
The Mystery Illness That Never Was
Poverty and Healthcare Inequities as Modern Outbreaks
open.substack.com
December 18, 2024 at 7:35 PM
The mystery illness in the #DRC was revealed to be #Malaria. The world will move on and the epidemics of poverty and inequity to healthcare access will persist. We cannot address the threat of pandemics by ignoring poverty.
Check out my latest #substack on this
open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...
Check out my latest #substack on this
open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...