I’m so sorry to see this news from Los Angeles 💔 Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a progressive, almost uniformly fatal, neurological disorder caused by reactivation of the measles virus or an inappropriate immune response to the measles infection. abc7.com/post/child-d...

"The vast majority of [state health department] communicable-diseases budgets are paid for with C.D.C. dollars". In fact, ~80% of CDC's budget goes directly out the door to state, tribal, local and territorial health departments. @newyorker.com www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ousted all 17 members of a panel that advises the CDC on the safety, efficacy and clinical needs of vaccines.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it's the only thing that ever has." (Margaret Mead) As we kick off the CSTE 2025 Annual Conference, I am immensely grateful to serve among these incredible STLT public health leaders.

Immensely grateful to Dr. McDonald (@milbankfund.bsky.social) and many others lending their voices to this critically important conversation.

In a new blog, Milbank Memorial Fund’s Morgan McDonald highlights the challenges and dangers of the abrupt termination of $11 billion in federal funds that occurred on March 24 and the mass layoffs at US Department of Health and Human Services that followed. www.milbank.org/2025/04/pray...

The CDC's cruise ship inspectors have been laid off, as well as agency's head epidemiologist for investigating cruise ship outbreaks That baffled health officials since this program is paid for by cruise ship fees, not taxpayer dollars www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-cru...

These comments from Secretary Kennedy are quite disappointing. The abrupt clawback of $11B in federal funds allocated to state & local HDs has had dramatic negative impacts on public health capacity nationwide. A more cohesive approach between DOGE & HHS would be beneficial. www.com/news/rfk-jr-...

50 canceled vaccination clinics, and other local impact from HHS cuts: ‘Mass layoffs is not how you make America healthier,’ city and county health officials say www.statnews.com/2025/04/01/h... via @statnews.com

NEW: Thousands of CDC employees who worked on things like preventing HIV and lead poisoning have been told they were subject to a reduction in force. Experts say people will die.

Hearing from all corners of HHS this morning about a total bloodletting — firings of scientists, analysts and many more as delayed RIFs take effect. Many folks didn’t see early AM email and showed up, only to be turned away when badges didn’t work. Was sent this photo of long lines at one HHS site.

Employees of #HHS and its agencies who are being fired — RIF'd — started to receive termination notices today starting at 5 am. Big swaths of the #CDC appear to have been cut. Developing story. www.statnews.com/2025/04/01/h...

“Now that the pandemic is over, the grants and cooperative agreements are no longer necessary," federal health authorities wrote to funding recipients this week.

In 2011, the city of Calgary took fluoride out of their water. Children developed a higher rate of cavities (+ req'd treatments, i.e. general anesthesia) than in other communities. Calgary is now in the process of putting fluoride *back* into their water supply. Let's learn from other communities.

As flu rages, the Trump administration has pulled the plug on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention flu immunization campaign that targeted high-risk groups, including pregnant women.

Some lots of raw pet food sold in two states are being recalled after two indoor cats became ill with bird flu earlier this month and were euthanized due to the severity of their illnesses. https://cbsn.ws/41xxzzH

BREAKING: At least 8 injured after Delta plane crash landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport - CP24

While reports are that the EIS program has been spared, many other brilliant, dedicated, experienced public health professionals were terminated yesterday. Our country is healthiest when we have a strong public health enterprise (from the federal to local levels). bsky.app/profile/alex...

I had the great privilege of serving in the EIS Class of 2015, responding to dozens of disease outbreaks and novel health threats. The program is a crowned jewel of U.S. public health and a model for other countries. Cutting this program does not, in any way, make our country healthier.

68 children have died of influenza this season. And I've heard anecdotes that busy children's hospitals are at capacity with available ECMO circuits to support children critically ill with influenza. The *vast* majority of these children are unvaccinated.

#Breaking - Trump administration to fire thousands at health agencies. Employees across agencies who were hired in the past one to two years are being targeted

I am SO THRILLED to finally present our new paper on reforming observational studies in epidemic settings, published in @bmj.com BMJ Global Health. gh.bmj.com/cgi/content/... #Episky #Epidemiology #clinicalresearch #observational #IDSky

So there's a new development in the bird flu situation -the bird genotype of the virus (D1.1), which has, in the current panzootic, been responsible for all of the severe cases of H5N1 in humans- has been detected in 4 dairy herds in Nevada. Here's what that could mean:🧵

4 dairy herds in Nevada recently diagnosed with #H5N1 #birdflu were infected with a different version of the virus than has been spreading in cows elsewhere. Evidence of a second (at a minimum) spillover points to the challenge of stopping spread, experts say. www.statnews.com/2025/02/05/u...

If you feel like everyone is sick right now, you are right. Flu is doing something unusual - outpatient visits just hit 7.0%, surpassing January's peak. substack.com/home/post/p-...

60 passengers and four crew were on board American Airlines jet that collided with Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, DC. Follow live updates.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (www.aap.org) has submitted ~200 pediatrician stories to Senate committees about the importance of childhood vaccinations. Almost every pediatrician has experienced cases like these. They are not imagined, they are devastating. And they are preventable.

The partisan divide in this @kff.org poll is staggering but not surprising. There is much work for public health to do to (re)build trust with all Americans. These data also reinforce the critical educational role of front line clinicians. Full poll data here: www.kff.org/health-infor...

At least 15 state legislatures have proposed bills to "create new religious exemptions from immunization mandates, establish state-level vaccine injury databases or dictate what providers must tell patients about the shots." apnews.com/article/vacc...

CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) has provided real-time data and analysis about disease outbreaks and emerging health threats without a break every week since 1960. Until today.

There are *zero* eggs at my grocery store. Even if you don't care about H5N1 from a human health perspective, you should care about the economic impact: ">13 million egg-laying hens died in December due to [H5N1] ... and another 3.3M died in early January". www.kcur.org/news/2025-01...

The US Primary care physician shortage (county level) and marked geographic variation in health outcomes www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.... @nejm.org

This article from @nejm.org requires a subscription, but man does this quote nail it. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

💯 "Ultimately, like many effective public health interventions, vaccines are a victim of their own success ...most people haven’t seen outbreaks of measles or polio, so they forget how dangerous the diseases are." www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

We obviously worry about the human health risks of consuming raw milk, but this @apnews.com article highlights the risk to our beloved domestic pets as well. Protect yourself, your family and your pets with pasteurization! apnews.com/article/raw-...

A big day for Bird Flu and bad day for us: ▶️ First US severe H5N1 case hospitalized in Louisiana (likely from backyard poultry) ▶️ First Wisconsin human H5N1 case (likely from commercial poultry) ▶️ California Gov declares State of Emergency (driven by state spread of positive tests at dairies)

The US reported its first severe human case of bird flu in a Louisiana resident who is hospitalized and in critical condition after suspected contact with an infected backyard flock reut.rs/49IqFtM

National data reported by CDC through November 30th shows that only 36.6% of children have received flu vaccine this year (as compared to 43.7% at this time last year). In 2023-24, flu vaccine reduced the risk of flu-related hospitalization for children by half. www.cdc.gov/fluvaxview/d...

On this day in 1981, a landmark paper in NEJM described four patients with evidence of immunodeficiency associated with PJP pneumonia, disseminated CMV, and Kaposi sarcoma. The disease would come to be known as HIV/AIDS. Revisit the paper: nej.md/41iekKD #MedSky #IDSky

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad boarded a plane and left Damascus for an unknown destination on Sunday, two senior army officers told Reuters, as rebels said they had entered the capital with no sign of army deployments reut.rs/3ORxDTn

Health officials in Marin country are investigated another potential case of H5N1 in a child with no clear exposures. If the positive test is confirmed by the CDC this will be third human case reported during this outbreak without clear zoonotic exposure. www.latimes.com/california/s...

On Dec. 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched an air raid on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, killing more than 2,300 Americans. The United States declared war against Japan the following day. Read more about what happened on this date: t.ly/sJ7Un

If an #H5N1 pandemic starts tomorrow or in three months, there will be little mystery as to how it happened. The conditions are all there. They have been for a while. So in some ways the more interesting question to me at the moment is: Why aren’t we in a pandemic yet? Story here, 🧵 to come: 🧪#IDSky

At least 1 new state added human H5N1 cases today ... The drip ... drip ... drip ... of human cases is feeling more and more like a steady stream. www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/sit...

Updates from the DRC MoH on the unidentified illness circulating: ➡️376 cases | 79 deaths | ~300 recovered ➡️~40% of cases are among children <5 yo ➡️Primary symptoms: fever, cough, runny nose, headache, myalgia, respiratory distress ➡️Suspicion is for respiratory disease apnews.com/article/cong...

I asked #USDA if a herd (like the one in CO) that tested positive, later cleared quarantine, then tested positive a 2nd time would be counted again against the state's infected herds total. The answer is no. So even though CO currently has an active outbreak, it's not on the map. Seems misleading.

CDC confirms that the California child who previously tested positive for H5N1 last month had the same strain previously identified in the dairy cattle outbreak, with no clear theory on how the virus spread to the child who had no known contact with infected animals www.paho.org/sites/defaul...

California's human #H5N1 #birdflu case count is now up to 29. National total this year is now 55.

Tragic news reported from Laos as a 6th tourist dies after suspected methanol poisoning. Sobering reminder of the health risks from methanol ingestion. We reported on 2 deaths from methanol intoxication in Tennessee several years ago in the CDC MMWR: www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes....

Wonderful to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the CDC Emerging Infections Program in Tennessee (a longstanding partnership between the TN Dept of Health & Vanderbilt University Medical Center). The EIP network provides essential population-based, active surveillance data for diverse pathogens.