Although the genetic fingerprint has shifted a bit, there is absolutely nothing new from a clinical, diagnostic, therapeutic, or preventive perspective. Are we really going to do this every time the virus mutates, which it will continue to do frequently & indefinitely? Link: tinyurl.com/3kt32bm9

Report of the 2024 #marburg outbreak in #rwanda. The response successfully treated two patients in the icu, simultaneously ran vaccine and treatment trials and effectively contained the outbreak. 15/66 cases died. They gave the world a lesson in outbreak response. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

🆕 Introducing FirstCallID 🎓 Practical ID teaching for busy clinicians 🚨 Ep 1 is live: How to Do an ID Consult ✔️ What to ask ✔️ What to notice ✔️ What your attending actually cares about 📺 Direct link to video: youtu.be/W1mrYwpxLK0 📘 Follow for updates: @firstcallid.bsky.social #idsky #medsky

Ontario needs a vaccination registry: Kieran Moore https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/ontario-needs-a-vaccination-registry-to-identify-coverage-gaps-top-doctor-says/article_9ce14bd7-d362-42ea-9b07-94f37827c133.html More news → CanadaHealthwatch.ca 🍁

A Policy to Override Policy. Every leader & administrator in Healthcare/Public Health (clinical, research, education) should be required to watch this 10 min clip. This creates systems to improve patient care, research & education. By @BradSpellberg tinyurl.com/yc5chesw

More tick-borne illnesses showing up in Canada: a case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) likely acquired at Emma Lake, SK. RMSF has also been found in dogs in southern ON & in a person in QC who may have caught it in ON. tinyurl.com/ybuefba2 by Alex Kozroski.

COVID cases are beginning to rise in Canada. While rates remain lower than at this time in recent years, they are still trending upward. Health Canada has also just approved a new COVID vaccine for the fall rollout, targeting LP.8.1 (a sublineage of Omicron). 🇨🇦

It looks like a case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) was identified in Quebec. This was recently also seen in dogs in Long Point, ON. RMSF is an uncommon but very serious tick-borne infection. Doxycycline is the treatment of choice.

This summer’s COVID test positivity rate (blue) is lower than the same time in the past two summers (red, yellow).

A quick note: My name and image are being used without permission in social media ads promoting products I do not endorse. I am working with social media platforms and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre to have these ads removed. I hope you’re all having a relaxing summer. Cheers,

“Raw milk has been promoted by online wellness influencers and raw food advocates, boosting sales in recent years, but public health officials say it can be risky.” www.cbsnews.com/news/florida...

Canada’s first human West Nile case of the year was just reported in Toronto. Most have no symptoms, some get a fever, and rarely it manifests as a serious neurological illness. Time for the bug spray. Link: tinyurl.com/yjf23nd6 by Nicole Ireland

'tis the season. First identification of West Nile Virus in Toronto mosquitoes this year. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Ontario is now seeing a sharp drop in measles cases, with the trend beginning in early May.

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) has been reported in dogs in Long Point, Ontario. RMSF is transmitted through tick bites, so humans are also at risk. This infection can be severe. Take care to protect yourself & your pets from ticks. Info from 🇨🇦 @PHAC_GC: tinyurl.com/yc2ev4h2

👧🏽 Since 2008, vaccination against human papillomavirus #HPV is free for girls in Denmark 🔎 Researchers looked at 16,955 cervical cell samples from 8,659 women over a 7-year study period 📉 #vaccination has effectively reduced infections with cancerogenic HPV 16/18 types #IDSky #MedSky #STISky 🧪🩺

A person in northern Arizona has died from a case of bubonic plague, local health officials say.

Canada has recorded the highest number of measles cases since achieving measles elimination status in 1998.

Thirty thousand years of germs: here’s my story about a chronicle of plagues and pestilence recorded in fossil DNA. Gift link: nyti.ms/4ln43UH

Measles cases in Ontario are on the decline (since May).

Happy Canada Day 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦

An independent group of experts has reviewed all available evidence on SARS-CoV-2's origins, including lab leak & natural spillover. Uncertainty remains. Only a methodical & rigorous approach (not partisanship or premature certainty) will lead us to credible answers. Link: tinyurl.com/5v796ent

To our American friends seeking data-driven and independent vaccine advice, please check out Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI): Evidence-based insights & expert guidance.. 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 Link: tinyurl.com/3ejd4b73

Sad news from Ontario: "It is with deep sadness that I confirm that an infant, born prematurely and infected with measles, has tragically passed away in southwestern Ontario." -Dr. Kieren Moore, CMOH tinyurl.com/mckw73bu

An important commentary from Isaac and my colleagues at PHAC. As worried as I am about the situation in the US, I am at least assured that Canada is proactively addressing this threat. Gratitude for the evidence-driven preparedness efforts led by both PHAC and CFIA.

🇨🇦 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/...

Forgotten but not gone: COVID rates in Canada have been low & declining for several months. However, the Omicron subvariant NB.1.1.8 has been more prevalent in SE Asia & it's likely we'll see more of that here in the near future. (Red = 2022-23; Yellow = 2023-24; Blue = 2024-25)

Our new study in @lancetmicrobe.bsky.social on the population-level impact of novel drugs against schistosomiasis, including drugs with activity against the juvenile form of the parasite. We hope the study can support novel drug development and selection to reduce the burden of schistosomiasis!

1/ Good news...PEP-in-Pocket ("PIP") joins the CDC's HIV prevention toolkit. "Health care professionals might consider a 'PEP-in-pocket' (PiP) strategy for certain patients with infrequent, repeated HIV exposures who decline to use PrEP." www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...

The measles outbreak in Ontario continues to grumble along, with 1,646 cases reported in 2025. To date, the outbreak has occurred primarily (though not exclusively) among unvaccinated individuals in under-vaccinated communities in southwestern Ontario.

The vast majority of people infected in the Ontario measles outbreak are unvaccinated.

Mpox is surging in Sierra Leone. Fortunately a vaccine program is now starting to roll out for those at risk. Link: tinyurl.com/mtw9bwef, by Jody Ray.

🧵1/N New study published in @jama.com on re-emergence of vaccine-eliminated infectious diseases under declining vaccination in the US. We model long-term risk and conditions for return to endemicity for measles, rubella, polio, & diphtheria. Collab w/ @Mathewkiang.com jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

More than 5 million “zero-dose” children – children who have not received a single dose of an essential routine vaccine – in the African region have been vaccinated since 2024 through the “Big Catch-Up” initiative" www.afro.who.int/news/vaccina...

"Nirmatrelvir–ritonavir (Paxlovid) administered for 15 days did not significantly improve health outcomes in participants with long COVID compared with placebo–ritonavir at day 28." Results of a randomized, blinded, placebo controlled Phase 2 trial: tinyurl.com/stfsjerk

Measles cases in Ontario have passed 900 so far in 2025, far exceeding the annual totals recorded over the past decade. The measles vaccine is highly effective at preventing infection, widely available at no cost, and backed by decades of safety data.

The news from the CDC is awful to hear. Canada should step up as a global leader in public health. 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

RFK, Jr. Laying Off the entire OIDP - Office Of Infectious Disease And HIV/AIDS Policy Problem is: general public not aware of what OIDP stands for, let alone what it does - and why this vision, strategy and organization is crucial Here's just a small segment of what OIDP: 🧵

A great history of the Alaska TB epidemic, where rates among its indigenous population were among the highest in the world, and the public health response which mitigated but did not eliminate TB there (still highest incidence in US). Also the title quote 🔥, feels so apt today. #WorldTBDay

1/ The "barrier" preventing New world screwworm flies (Cochliomyia hominivorax) from spreading north of Panama has been breached. We recently cared for a patient who contracted this infestation on a trip to Costa Rica. Larvae feed on live tissue & require prompt extraction.

Ontario is now reporting 440 measles cases in 2025 so far, compared to 64 in 2024, and 101 between 2013 and 2023. The vast majority of infections are in unvaccinated individuals. The measles vaccine is free, widely available, highly effective and backed by decades of safety data.

Canada is home to world-class scientists and researchers. We have a unique opportunity to recruit top US talent amid their recent major research cuts. What's our plan? 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦

Today @natmedicine.bsky.social published our study showing the older individuals born prior to 1968 have more antibodies that cross-react to #H5N1 relative to younger individuals. If H5N1 causes a pandemic, children will likely be the most susceptible. 1/2 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Ontario is currently experiencing a measles outbreak, with the vast majority of cases occurring in unvaccinated individuals who were eligible to receive both doses of the vaccine. The measles vaccine is safe, free, widely available, and very effective.

The Ugandan #Ebola outbreak isnt over. Still not clear how this outbreak started and whether the first case we know of was the true index case www.cidrap.umn.edu/ebola/second...

Our work with Peru's Ministry of Health on TB active case finding in prisons is now out. Systematic screening identified a high prevalence of undiagnosed TB (2,800 per 100,000), of which an alarming 11.4% were rifampicin-resistant. wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/...

With the tragic news of a measles-related death in Texas, it is important to remember that we also have a measles outbreak in Canada, with the vast majority of cases among unvaccinated individuals. Ontario data below 👇

It's been a relatively tough influenza season in Canada this winter. Fortunately there are encouraging early signs that the peak has passed and cases are declining. (Ontario data below. Flu is in Red.)