Emanuele Capobianco

Near Real-Time Genomic Characterization of the 2025 Sudan Ebolavirus Outbreak in Uganda’s Index Case: Insights into Evolutionary Origins Introduction Case History: On January 30, 2025, the Ministry of Health declared an outbreak of Sudan Ebola Virus (SUDV) Disease in Kampala, Uganda, following the death of a healthcare worker at Mula...

1. Fascinating analysis of the #Ebola Sudan virus that killed a nurse in Uganda last week shows no link to the country's last outbreak in 2022. But the virus is similar to one that caused a 2012 outbreak at Luwero, perhaps suggesting where this spillover started. virological.org/t/near-real-...

Panic In Mbale As Five Admitted Amid Ebola Outbreak » Sebei Today Mbale, Uganda – Fear has gripped Mbale City after five people were admitted to Mbale City Health Center following a suspected Ebola outbreak. Among the

Unsettling news from Uganda, where it's been reported the family of the man who died from #Ebola may have dug up his body, because it wasn't given the funeral the family felt was important. If this is true, it was a very dangerous thing to do; could cost lives. sebeitoday.com/health-lifes...

Uganda confirms Ebola case in nurse in capital city Ugandan health officials on Thursday confirmed a case of Ebola in the capital Kampala, in a nurse who sought care at a number of facilities.

Uganda knows how to combat #Ebola & it actually has supplies of experimental vaccines in-country. But there are things about this latest Ebola Sudan outbreak that are worrying. The confirmed patient sought care from a traditional healer & 3 hospitals in 2 cities. www.statnews.com/2025/01/30/u...

Infectious diseases in 2025: a year for courage and conviction “The COVID-19 crisis may have passed, but a harsh lesson remains: the world is woefully unprepared for the next pandemic”, said António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, on the International Day of Epid...

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... A good editorial by The Lancet to reaffirm 2025 as a pivotal year for global health through GAVI & Global Fund replenishments and PEPFAR’s reauthorization by the US Government. Will there be enough courage and conviction?

Gaza war death toll could be significantly higher, researchers say A study in The Lancet suggests Gaza ministry of health figures over a nine-month period might be too low.

The report in The Lancet estimated a death toll between 55,298–78,525 people, compared to 37,877 reported by the health ministry.

The research also said 59% of those killed for whom data on sex and age was available were women, children and the elderly. bbc.com/news/article...

What Covid tried to teach us — and why it will matter in the next pandemic Five years after the start of Covid, we appear to be trying to teach ourselves the lessons of the pandemic the hard way.

Five years ago some infectious diseases experts were starting to grasp that the world was watching the emergence of a new pandemic. #Covid was a painful experience that should have taught us a lot about pandemic preparedness. But we seem to be unwilling to learn. www.statnews.com/2025/01/06/c...

Global Health Politics: Multipolarity Is the New Reality | Think Global Health Long dominated by the West, global health is changing because of discontent with the past and the return of geopolitics

“Equity, solidarity, and justice remain important elements of global health, but they will increasingly share the stage with national sovereignty, regional capabilities, and geopolitical calculations.” A worthwhile article to prepare for 2025. www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/glob...

The vaccine cold chain: A history It's been true since Edward Jenner's day: finding a vaccine is just the first step. Getting it out into the world demands a lot more problem-solving.

From extreme heat to frigid cold, vaccines traverse incredible journeys to reach children this year.

The unsung hero behind it all? The cold chain, a marvel of logistics.

Here’s how vaccines make it to every corner of the world 👇

RDC: Grippe identifiée comme cause probable de la maladie mystérieuse - Afrique sur 7 Un mystère de santé publique semble se résoudre en République Démocratique du Congo (RDC).

Following a meeting of the Council of Ministers late Friday, DRC spokesperson Patrick Muyaya confirmed that influenza has been formally identified as the cause of the mysterious outbreak in Kwango province.

Coinfections identified in many of the patients, including COVID, rhinovirus, malaria, etc.

Congo man dies with hemorrhagic fever, indicating mystery outbreak could be more than just malaria A man in western Congo has died with hemorrhagic fever symptoms. Health authorities say that has led them to suspect that a still-unidentified virus may be involved alongside malaria in a mysterious o...

apnews.com/article/cong...

Noisy origins COVID-19 probably did emerge in a Wuhan market – but I can understand why people think it didn’t

COVID-19 probably did emerge in a Wuhan market – but I can understand why people think it didn’t kucharski.substack.com/p/noisy-orig...

Great stuff from @adamjkucharski.bsky.social

Gavi concludes agreements to facilitate donations of 305,000 mpox vaccine doses on behalf of US, with the first delivery to Nigeria Vaccines will be delivered to countries affected by the upsurge of mpox that continues to constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The first shipment of 11, 200 doses arr...

The mpox outbreak affecting several countries in Africa is far from over, and intensified action is urgently needed.
Vaccines are a key tool to control the outbreak and GAVI is working hard with partners to ensure vaccines are available for African countries to use.

www.gavi.org/news/media-r...

Useful and rich report on #H5N1. Alarm bells are ringing.

Bird flu is a real pandemic threat. Are we prepared for the worst? | Devi Sridhar A strain now circulating in dairy cows appears to carry little risk for humans at present, but we need to develop an effective strategy before it mutates, says public health expert Devi Sridhar

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Here's the visual proof of why vaccines do more good than harm See year by year how vaccines beat back nine dangerous infectious diseases

Sadly, it’s a good time to once again share this amazing infographic that we ran at @science.org more than 7 years ago
🧪 #IDsky
www.science.org/content/arti...

Ebola: how a vaccine turned a terrifying virus into a preventable disease Sierra Leone was one of three countries ravaged by the Ebola epidemic 10 years ago. A national vaccine campaign is a big step towards preventing future outbreaks.

A massive success story on the power of science, vaccines and ingenuity. #Ebola theconversation.com/ebola-how-a-...

This doctor raised the alarm about a deadly mpox outbreak that went global Placide Mbala is part of Nature’s 10, a list of people who shaped science in 2024.

"Early this year, cases of mpox erupted across Central Africa, killing hundreds...Mbala led a team of researchers who sounded the alarm...and urged health officials both in the DRC and in neighbouring countries to devise plans to contain the monkeypox virus’s spread." 🧪⚕️

No Pandemic Agreement This Year – And Doubt About Feasibility Of May 2025 Deadline - Health Policy Watch There will be no pandemic agreement by year-end and, with only 10 days of formal talks set aside in 2025, some parties doubt whether an agreement can be

healthpolicy-watch.news/no-pandemic-... Sobering news…#pandemicagreement

Colleague working with ECDC and DRC MoH responding to outbreak in Panzi just provided me with some details on epi investigation:
- 330 cases in total, 318 recovered without sequelae
- 25 ongoing cases
-27 official deaths
- 60% female, 22% young children <5
- symptoms- fever, pain cough, headache,

Why hasn’t the bird flu pandemic started? Some scientists examining mutations found in H5N1 viruses fear major outbreak is imminent but others says pathogen remains unpredictable

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

Emanuele Capobianco on LinkedIn: Excited to share that this week I’ve joined GAVI as Director of Global… | 11 comments Excited to share that this week I’ve joined GAVI as Director of Global Health Security. This role marks a return to my lifelong passion for combating epidemics… | 11 comments on LinkedIn

Happy to share that this week I joined @GAVI as Director of Global Health Security. Looking forward to connecting on Bluesky! www.linkedin.com/posts/emanue...

H5N1 bird flu virus in Canadian teenager displays mutations demonstrating virus’ risk The H5N1 virus that infected a Canadian teen appears not to have spread, but it shows signs of mutation that makes flu virologists nervous.

Genetic sequencing of the #H5N1 #birdflu virus from the Canadian teenager shows worrying changes. It doesn't mean H5 is taking off — but it's a reminder that it might, says @scottehensley.bsky.social. "This is exactly the scenario that we fear.” www.statnews.com/2024/11/18/b...

Hi!