New in @healthaffairs.bsky.social with @Jason Kindrachuk: Africa’s mpox outbreak demands urgent attention.
5,200+ cases in Sierra Leone alone. 220K vaccine doses ready but not deployed.

Outbreaks anywhere threaten us everywhere.
#mpox #outbreaks #healthaffairs

www.healthaffairs.org/content/fore...

@time.com!

New @time.com article: Why HHS is Wrong to Bring Back the Stigmatizing Name Monkeypox.

White House Empties Office for U.S. Pandemic Policy: The Gaps Left Behind | Think Global Health Summer departures leave the White House without a senior official for pandemic preparedness, biosecurity, or biodefense

The U.S. has the tools—and the mandate—to lead on pandemic preparedness. But right now, OPPR is sitting empty.

Thanks to @thinkglobalhealth.org for helping me tell this story.

www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/whit...

#HealthSecurity #PublicHealth #Biodefense #ThinkGlobalHealth #Biosecurity

Kennedy Withdraws Funding Pledge to International Vaccine Agency

Gavi works in close partnership (operationally and financially) with governments around the world to distribute life-saving vaccines to children. Their work has saved nearly 20 million lives since 2000.

Kennedy is either misinformed or lying, but either way children will die as a result.

RFK Jr. says US won’t donate to global vaccine effort Kennedy ripped into Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in a video address at its pledging summit.

This is a travesty & a nightmare. The US was a founder of @gavi.org. It lowers global vaccine costs, has vaccinated 1B children, & averted 19M deaths. This pull out will cost 100s of thousands of children's lives a year - and RFK Jr will be personally responsible.
www.politico.com/news/2025/06...

We don’t close military bases in unstable regions and hope for the best—we maintain forward deployment to prevent emergencies. The same logic applies to public health.

New piece in @justsecurity.org about cuts to CDC’s presence around the world, with @nikkiromanik.bsky.social

Dismantling CDC’s Global Work is Dismantling Our First Line of Biodefense As the Trump administration plans to weaken the CDC, Americans and the world will become more vulnerable to biological threats.

Dismantling CDC’s global presence risks eliminating a key layer of U.S. biodefense, write Drs. @spsaki.bsky.social and @nikkiromanik.bsky.social. One that is designed to detect and contain outbreaks before they reach U.S. shores.

www.justsecurity.org/114532/disma...

It was an absolute honor to be the first repeat guest on the Scientista podcast!

Thank you to the brilliant hosts, Dr. Sweta Chakraborty, PhD and Monica Medina for asking the tough, necessary questions about the state of health in America today. 🎙️ www.buzzsprout.com/2457318/epis...

I couldn’t agree more with ACOG!

“ACOG is concerned about and extremely disappointed by the announcement that HHS will no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy.”
@acog full statement here:
acog.org/news/news-rele…

Please retweet this.
It matters.

Behind the Scenes of Pandemic Response: Dr. Nikki Romanik on Science, Policy, and Trust Dr. Nikki Romanik, former White House pandemic policy leader, shares her journey from a life-changing moment with the AIDS quilt to shaping U.S. pandemic preparedness. In this Scientista Podcast…

A must-read: @nikkiromanik.bsky.social discusses the importance of fighting misinformation and rebuilding public trust in science. Discover her path from a teenager in Nebraska to a leading force in pandemic preparedness and a lasting influence in public health.

The silent epidemic: Mpox’s resurgence in Africa calls for urgent global health action Without US funding, there has been immediate disruption to controlling the mpox outbreak. Now is the time for global health leaders, philanthropic organisations and other high-income nations to step u...

Following our recent webinar, @wilmotjames.bsky.social, @nikkiromanik.bsky.social, & Dr Richard Migisha co-authored an op-ed for @dailymaverick.co.za highlighting the need to strengthen local infrastructure and global support as #mpox remains a pressing public health challenge in Africa.

More ⤵️

Please join us!

Join us March 21st for our Next webinar to hear discussions on the current mpox landscape, past lessons in response, and potential next steps. This panel will be moderated by @wilmotjames.bsky.social w/ panelists @nikkiromanik.bsky.social & Richard Migisha

Register ⤵️
brown.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Measles Outbreak in Texas and New Mexico Sickens Nearly 100 People Texas reported 90 cases this week, while New Mexico reported nine. A majority of the cases have been in a Texas county where vaccination rates have lagged behind the rest of the state.

Update on the Measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/u...
There likely hundreds of cases, so many not being diagnosed. And many more to come. All preventable.

The USDA is scrambling to rehire officials working to curb the spread of bird flu after firing them The H5N1 avian flu has impacted more than 160 million birds, resulting in the deaths of 20 million egg-laying chickens since 2022.

Article from @fortune.com shares the #USDA is trying to rehiring employees it just let go amid an ongoing #H5N1 outbreak.

"...it is really important that USDA be a full, unrestrained, well-resourced partner in the work to protect these farm workers."
-@jennifernuzzo.bsky.social

Read More ⤵️

Next Friday at 12PM EST join our Webinar, The cost of defunding #PEPFAR and the impact on the fight against HIV/AIDS, moderated by @wilmotjames.bsky.social w/ panelist Glenda Gray (WITS) & @spsaki.bsky.social (@brownpublichealth.bsky.social )

Register here:
brown.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

@nikkiromanik.bsky.social

We are thrilled to have the newest additions to Brown SPH, @spsaki.bsky.social and Nikki Romanik, who are joining us as senior fellows in global health security!

As former White House officials, their expertise is critically important in our evolving world. Welcome!
sph.brown.edu/news/2025-02...

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.

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...