Sam Pritchard
@sampritchard.bsky.social
Cambridge med student & LSHTM grad | Interested in outbreaks, global health security, bioweapons nonproliferation
Reposted by Sam Pritchard
Can avian flu spread via the wind? Can't be ruled out, experts say
A 2024 outbreak of #H5N1 on three unrelated poultry farms in the Czech Republic suggests airborne transmission, which is difficult to prove.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/a...
A 2024 outbreak of #H5N1 on three unrelated poultry farms in the Czech Republic suggests airborne transmission, which is difficult to prove.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/a...
February 21, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Can avian flu spread via the wind? Can't be ruled out, experts say
A 2024 outbreak of #H5N1 on three unrelated poultry farms in the Czech Republic suggests airborne transmission, which is difficult to prove.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/a...
A 2024 outbreak of #H5N1 on three unrelated poultry farms in the Czech Republic suggests airborne transmission, which is difficult to prove.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/a...
Reposted by Sam Pritchard
I was in W Africa during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, working alongside EIS officers.
Their expertise, with partners, was essential in stopping the spread.
Cutting EIS is reckless. With Marburg & Ebola outbreaks, who will track and contain the next outbreak?
The consequences will last for decades.
Their expertise, with partners, was essential in stopping the spread.
Cutting EIS is reckless. With Marburg & Ebola outbreaks, who will track and contain the next outbreak?
The consequences will last for decades.
February 15, 2025 at 2:08 AM
I was in W Africa during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, working alongside EIS officers.
Their expertise, with partners, was essential in stopping the spread.
Cutting EIS is reckless. With Marburg & Ebola outbreaks, who will track and contain the next outbreak?
The consequences will last for decades.
Their expertise, with partners, was essential in stopping the spread.
Cutting EIS is reckless. With Marburg & Ebola outbreaks, who will track and contain the next outbreak?
The consequences will last for decades.
Reposted by Sam Pritchard
#Ebola in Uganda: Confirmed cases up to 7, all contacts of the first confirmed case, the male nurse who died on 1/29. That is the only death so far. Other cases are family members or health workers who treated the nurse. Nearly 300 contacts have been identified & are being monitored. (source: #WHO)
February 6, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Reposted by Sam Pritchard
In the span of just 2 weeks. Marco Rubio has beat Rex Tillerson and Mike Pompeo to become the worst Secretary of State in US history. Suspending foreign assistance and dismantling USAID has destroyed 80 years of US investment in soft power.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he is acting director the U.S. Agency for International Development, following days of upheaval at USAID as the Trump administration froze many of its programs.
Trump targets USAID as Marco Rubio becomes acting head of the embattled agency
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he is acting director the U.S. Agency for International Development, following days of upheaval at USAID as the Trump administration froze many of its programs.
www.npr.org
February 3, 2025 at 7:51 PM
In the span of just 2 weeks. Marco Rubio has beat Rex Tillerson and Mike Pompeo to become the worst Secretary of State in US history. Suspending foreign assistance and dismantling USAID has destroyed 80 years of US investment in soft power.
This is a litmus test for the impact
of the US aid freeze and Trump’s abandoning of global health security leadership. Recent Ebola outbreaks have been mostly well controlled - Uganda-WHO cooperation will be as crucial as ever in replicating this recent success.
of the US aid freeze and Trump’s abandoning of global health security leadership. Recent Ebola outbreaks have been mostly well controlled - Uganda-WHO cooperation will be as crucial as ever in replicating this recent success.
I spoke to #WHO 's Mike Ryan, in Uganda helping with the #Ebola response. Six contacts are ill, but not yet clear if they have Ebola. Vaccination could start Sunday. WHO is covering off key programs hit by the Trump admin's aid freeze, including border screening. www.statnews.com/2025/02/01/u...
WHO says 6 contacts of Ugandan Ebola patient are ill, vaccination efforts could begin Sunday
Test results on the sick people are pending, and a top WHO official said the outbreak response is proceeding rapidly.
www.statnews.com
February 1, 2025 at 9:33 PM
This is a litmus test for the impact
of the US aid freeze and Trump’s abandoning of global health security leadership. Recent Ebola outbreaks have been mostly well controlled - Uganda-WHO cooperation will be as crucial as ever in replicating this recent success.
of the US aid freeze and Trump’s abandoning of global health security leadership. Recent Ebola outbreaks have been mostly well controlled - Uganda-WHO cooperation will be as crucial as ever in replicating this recent success.
Reposted by Sam Pritchard
As a virologist who specializes in outbreaks, Angela Rasmussen writes that having Kennedy at the helm of HHS during an outbreak of a lethal virus is the worst pandemic scenario she can conceive—and it’s a worryingly real possibility. https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/01/30/rfk-jr-rfk-confirmation-bird…
Make America Highly Pathogenic Again
If RFK Jr. gets to helm HHS, global health is at risk.
foreignpolicy.com
January 30, 2025 at 10:30 PM
As a virologist who specializes in outbreaks, Angela Rasmussen writes that having Kennedy at the helm of HHS during an outbreak of a lethal virus is the worst pandemic scenario she can conceive—and it’s a worryingly real possibility. https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/01/30/rfk-jr-rfk-confirmation-bird…
Reposted by Sam Pritchard
There have been 12 outbreaks of Ebola or Marburg (a close cousin) in the past 4 years
Zero have landed in the US
Why?
Because of people like Stephanie Psaki and a US deeply engaged in the world
So Stephanie asks
Who is protecting Americans from Marburg now?
www.statnews.com/2025/01/27/m...
Zero have landed in the US
Why?
Because of people like Stephanie Psaki and a US deeply engaged in the world
So Stephanie asks
Who is protecting Americans from Marburg now?
www.statnews.com/2025/01/27/m...
Who is protecting Americans from Marburg right now?
The WHO and the CDC coordinated well when faced with viral outbreaks. This is no time to demolish a well-oiled machine.
www.statnews.com
January 27, 2025 at 11:41 AM
There have been 12 outbreaks of Ebola or Marburg (a close cousin) in the past 4 years
Zero have landed in the US
Why?
Because of people like Stephanie Psaki and a US deeply engaged in the world
So Stephanie asks
Who is protecting Americans from Marburg now?
www.statnews.com/2025/01/27/m...
Zero have landed in the US
Why?
Because of people like Stephanie Psaki and a US deeply engaged in the world
So Stephanie asks
Who is protecting Americans from Marburg now?
www.statnews.com/2025/01/27/m...
Reposted by Sam Pritchard
'Just as the cyber and space domains were integrated into operational doctrine in response to emerging threats, the biological domain must now be defended proactively' write Max Breet and Lauren Ross in today's RUSI Commentary. bit.ly/3VxrTlN
Securing a Strategic Advantage in Biosecurity for NATO
NATO should recognise the importance of biosecurity by understanding it as a new domain. This would allow the Alliance to more effectively leverage existing structures to defend itself against hybrid ...
bit.ly
December 11, 2024 at 1:15 PM
'Just as the cyber and space domains were integrated into operational doctrine in response to emerging threats, the biological domain must now be defended proactively' write Max Breet and Lauren Ross in today's RUSI Commentary. bit.ly/3VxrTlN
Reposted by Sam Pritchard
1/ 🚨 New study in Nature Medicine on the 2024 Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) outbreak in Rwanda. It sheds light on the genomic origins, transmission dynamics, and public health response. 🧵
Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
#Marburg #GlobalHealth
Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
#Marburg #GlobalHealth
Genomic and transmission dynamics of the 2024 Marburg Virus Outbreak in Rwanda - Nature Medicine
Genomic analyses from the ongoing outbreak of Marburg virus disease in Rwanda point to a single zoonotic origin of the outbreak.
doi.org
December 17, 2024 at 2:49 AM
1/ 🚨 New study in Nature Medicine on the 2024 Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) outbreak in Rwanda. It sheds light on the genomic origins, transmission dynamics, and public health response. 🧵
Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
#Marburg #GlobalHealth
Paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
#Marburg #GlobalHealth