We do not talk enough about how much vaccines have transformed Ebola outbreaks. The country stock pile of 2000 vaccines was immediately deployed to respond to the outbreak in the DRC and 45,000 additional doses have been approved for shipment to the DRC. www.afro.who.int/countries/de...

New paper: we argue that a promising approach for studying mpox vaccine effectiveness in Central Africa to incorporate mpox vaccination + testing data into existing cohort studies, especially those for HIV/STIs. www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...

A little bit of personal career news (1/3) 🙋🏻‍♂️ With great excitement, I’ve recently started a new part-time role as a Technical Advisor for UKHSA’s Global Health Protection Directorate, focusing on the International Health Regulations Strengthening Programme (IHR-SP) in Pakistan.

Just announced - @smhopkins.bsky.social will be the new chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency @ukhsa.bsky.social. Starting in September.

The Health Protection Research Units have been hiring a lot recently for roles across public health, but this one is a little different: Drones for public health emergency logistics! Part of the @ukhsa.bsky.social and Uni Birmingham joint HPRU www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Newly published @ukhsa.bsky.social report prepared by Field Epidemiology Service colleagues and my team on Travel-Associated infections, as we approach peak infection season in late Summer and Autumn www.gov.uk/government/p... #EpiSky

We’re pleased to welcome Professor Robin May as UKHSA’s Interim Chief Scientific Officer from September. Robin joins us from @foodgov.bsky.social, bringing expertise in public health threats, and continues as Professor of Infectious Disease at @unibirmingham.bsky.social.

The National Biosecurity Centre will "strengthen and formalise existing collaborations between UKHSA, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (Dstl) to bolster the UK’s resilience to deliberate, accidental or naturally occurring biological incidents"

The government has announced plans for our new headquarters in Harlow, Essex. The National Biosecurity Centre will be operational from the mid-2030s. This will create one of the world's largest health protection science centres, replacing facilities at Porton & Colindale www.gov.uk/government/n...

🦟"Vertical transmission in field-caught #mosquitoes identifies a mechanism for the establishment of #Usutu #virus in a temperate country" by Mirjam Schilling et al. at APHA, ZSL, @ukhsa.bsky.social in Scientific Reports @natureportfolio.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This death is really tragic and sadly avoidable. We have a safe and effective vaccine. High vaccination coverage protects not just the vaccinated but also the vulnerable in our communities. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

“The MI5 of disease prevention” - £1bn invested in new animal biosecurity centre as part of the National Security Strategy. Set up as part of the National Biosecurity Centre Network coordinated by the Cabinet Office, for making relationships with UKHSA, APHA, and Dstl www.gov.uk/government/n...

ICYMI: Health Protection Report on the Report a Notifiable Disease Service The service that I led development of with colleagues @ukhsa.bsky.social has been in National Public beta since September last year, and here is the first public data report on it 🧵 1/6 www.gov.uk/government/p...

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

*Job Alert* Fantastic opportunity for a Consultant Micro/Viro to join UKHSA's Global Health Protection Directorate in the International Health Regulation Strengthening Programme Part-time, fixed-term - more details below www.healthjobsuk.com/job/v7278982

We're hiring! Please share through your networks - we are recruiting an SEO Senior Insights Manager in the Behavioural Science and Insights Unit at @ukhsa.bsky.social. For more information see: www.healthjobsuk.com/job/v7197975 Deadline for applications: Thursday 19th June 2025.

“To be honest, as an African, I am really embarrassed to see this,” said Dr Tedros of the crisis sparked by the aid cuts. “It’s embarrassing because it reveals a reliance, a dependency.” More from @who.int's Dr Tedros in this interview by @paulnuki.bsky.social: www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...

Absolutely thrilled to announce the launch of ARTIC2 - a £5.5M 5 year project funded by @wellcometrust.bsky.social to build on the ARTIC approach of low-cost, globally accessible genome sequencing for surveillance of outbreaks, epidemics and endemic diseases: www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/am...

WHO faces a 21% reduction from the original proposed budget for the 2026-27 biennium. “If we think US$ 2.1 billion a year is ambitious—or $ 4.2 billion for the biennium—then either we must lower our ambitions for what WHO is and does, or we must raise the money.” - @drtedros.who.int bit.ly/3ZrwCXZ

Professor Dame Jenny Harries discusses COVID-19, vaccines & future pandemics with @adamfleming as she looks ahead to stepping down as Chief Executive of UKHSA. Listen to #BBCNewscast on @BBCSounds ▶️ www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

Samantha Jones, current DHSC Non-Exec, former Nurse, hospital Chief Exec, and No 10 COO, announced as new Permanent Secretary at DHSC www.gov.uk/government/n...

Second report from @ukhsa Gastro teams (lab and epi) led by Clare Jenkins reporting imported cases of Cholera related to travel to Ethiopia and cases without travel who consumed holy water from the same site as travellers. 3/3 www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2...

#AMR pertussis is rare, but epidemics raise the risk. In Japan, 5 cases of antibiotic-resistant whooping cough have been reported in Tokyo, tragically claiming the life of a baby girl. A reminder of the stakes in AMR surveillance and vaccine coverage. #InfectiousDisease mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Job Opportunity - Senior Epidemiology Scientist at UKHSA You'd get to work with some brilliant colleagues in the Evaluation and Epidemiological Sciences division, part of the Chief Scentific Officer's Group. @ukhsa.bsky.social @iddjobs.org www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cg...

Measles likely came from cows (via rinderpest) around the 6th century BCE. For 2,500 years, we didn’t evolve superhuman resistance—children just died. Real protection only came in the 1960s, with vaccines. Our superpower isn’t evolving into superhumans. It’s outthinking pathogens.

Today is the big day for Notifiable Diseases in England. Eight (8) diseases today join the list of those that doctors in England are required to notify suspected cases of to @ukhsa.bsky.social. Following a long consultation and a lot of work across UKHSA and DHSC, these additions will: (1/4)

It's the end of our official first week of the new UKHSA structure. The changes have seen our team move alongside our data and technology colleagues, although we remain embedded in the home of Health Protection as part of the field epidemiology function.

We need the help of academics, health & policy professionals, and people with lived experience of tuberculosis (TB) to shape our next TB Action Plan. Together we can improve how we prevent, detect, and control TB. 🛡️ 🗓️ Deadline: 2 May 🔗 www.gov.uk/government/n...

UKHSA reports new detections of vaccine-derived polio virus type 2 (VDPV2) in Leeds, London and West Sussex thru sentinel wastewater surveillance in November 2024 This is the first polio detection in wastewater for 2 years. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Now out in The Lancet Microbe, a paper led by my brilliant friend Caitlin Pley. Very glad to have been involved with the little bit of stats and vis here on a rather more biomedical area than I usually work on. Short thread below 🧵 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Do you work for an NHS, UKHSA or local authority public health team in England? Could you help shape a resource to support local teams to tailor messages for diverse communities? If so, please consider taking part in this research project & receive a £40 voucher in time for Christmas!

This thread demonstrates well more nuanced communication of early days in infectious disease incidents, which elsewhere is often lacking. Lab tests aren’t the full picture: who should be tested, consent for testing, who is being tested based on exposure, etc

Now seems a good time to collate a list of reputable, trustworthy public health voices. UK Public Health Starter Pack ⤵️ (Work in progress - will add suggestions!) go.bsky.app/Tuf8yqX

Delighted that Birmingham has been awarded HPRU status in Public Health Genomics! Am looking forward to working with stellar team from UKHSA and Birmingham on themes inc. env surveillance, metagenomics, novel genomics methods & analysis/data infrastructure www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2024/pr...

UKHSA has published a technical briefing on #Mpox #cladeI - focussing on potential scenarios -indicators to provide signals for each scenarios - methodology for assigning risk in country - mitigations & interventions - current vaccine strategy assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66e83b...

Good primer on the ongoing risk of re-emergence of the deadliest Ebola virus outbreak from 2013-15 via dormant-like infections in survivors of the horrendous outbreak almost decade ago www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt... EpiSky Public Health

The wheels are set in motion and dozens of people are diligently working over the weekend on H1N2 investigations and preparedness. It always seems an overreaction, until it’s not! Swine flu: what’s next after the first confirmed case in the UK? www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-...

Out today: UKHSA annual report on efforts to eliminate HIV. Continue to meet and exceed UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets but progress not consistent with slower progress for women and GBMSM from ethnic minority groups. Report: www.gov.uk/government/p... PR: www.gov.uk/government/n...

Emerging infections monthly summary from our EI and Zoonoses colleagues. Including incidents of public health significance: an update to Dengue situation in Bangladesh and a new Nipah virus infection in India. Also covers Anthrax, MERS, Bubonic Plague, Polio and more www.gov.uk/government/p...

Professor Dame Jenny Harries opening the @UKHSA conference outlining the biggest concern for health security: Anti-microbial resistance, citing @UKAMREnvoy’s description of AMR as the Silent Pandemic.