"We mourn the loss of so many”, says @DrTedros at #covid19@WHO presser. "The world is still grappling with the #COVID19 pandemic. Every week we’re adding approximately two million cases."
@DrTedros@WHO "It's never too late to turn the tide”, says @drtedros.
"In Europe, countries have done it. In Asia, countries have done it. In the Pacific, countries have done it. In the Middle East, countries have done it. In Africa, many countries have done it. In the Americas..."
@DrTedros@WHO "This is a critical moment in the #COVID19 outbreak response”, says @drtedros.
"We urge every single leader to strengthen their response, put targeted measures in place that we know can suppress the spread, ensure that health systems and workers are protected, and saves lives."
@DrTedros@WHO “We're pleased to announce that we have finalized approval for a second antigen based rapid diagnostic test to be granted emergency use listing”, says @drtedros.
@DrTedros@WHO "I'm pleased to say that 168 countries have now joined COVAX and another 25 have told us they will do soon”, says @drtedros. "This sends a very powerful message of solidarity across the world that we are uniting to end this pandemic for the sake of all humankind."
@DrTedros@WHO “We're outraged to read these reports”, says @drtedros addressing "disturbing news from the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo regarding reports of alleged sexual exploitation and abuse by people identifying themselves as working for @WHO”.
@DrTedros@WHO “We come to save lives and spread hope. The betrayal of people in the communities we serve is reprehensible”, says @DrTedros. "We will not tolerate behavior like this from our staff, contractors or partners."
@DrTedros@WHO "I have initiated an investigation of the specific allegations, as well as broader protection issues in health emergency response settings”, says @drtedros. "Anyone identified as being involved will be held to account and face serious consequences, including immediate dismissal."
@DrTedros@WHO (Had to drop off the presser soon after opening statement sadly. It started 30 min late.)
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Stat’s @HelenBranswell talking about covid vaccine messaging and „The curse of the 95%“ now at @ESCMID #ECCMID2024
Many scientists realized that expectations for a vaccine that is injected into the arm to prevent a respiratory infection were too high, she says, but the public was not prepared for this…
The comparison with flu is interesting, says @HelenBranswell: Not only was the model ignored in communicating about the covid19 vaccines but in the end the things that people in the US accept about flu vaccines are not accepted for covid19 vaccines… #ECCMID2024
So sad to hear that Paul Alexander passed yesterday at age 78 from Covid-19. Paul contracted polio in 1952, when he was just six years old. He ended up in an iron lung and while he could live outside it for extended periods of time he never really left it.
Two years ago my colleagues and I talked to Paul for a few polio episodes of our @pandemiapodcast.
Paul told us about the full life he lived, about the horror of the disease, about studying law and practicing as a lawyer, writing a book and much more.
@pandemiapodcast At the time we put out a special episode just with the interview. (There is a German intro til about 8:00. then you can hear the full interview in English though he can be hard to understand over the sound of the iron lung) files.podcaster.de/podcasthosting…
The two papers on the #H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in cats in Poland make for really interesting reading. The first describes the outbreak and the second investigates the emergence and transmission.
(I'm on a train again so a brief thread).
"Information about a highly fatal disease in cats with respiratory and nervous system signs began to circulate in social media and among cat lovers in mid-June 2023." Cases were mostly from cities but across the map...
https://t.co/R5vrPnMs0ieurosurveillance.org/content/10.280…
Symptoms were similar in all cases: "loss of appetite, apathy, hypersalivation, fever ... followed by nervous symptoms such as epileptic seizures, increased muscle tension and sometimes stiffness of the limbs." Most cats were euthanized, the others died a natural death.
A paper just out in @Eurosurveillanc describes the large and ongoing #H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in fur farms in western Finland with infections in foxes, American minks and raccoon dogs. (Paper mentions 20 farms though 2 more have been affected since): eurosurveillance.org/content/10.280…
@Eurosurveillanc I wrote about an earlier outbreak on a fur farm in Spain last year and why these are concerning:
Here again it looks likely that the virus was transmitted from mammal to mammal and even between different species:science.org/content/articl…
@Eurosurveillanc “Transmission between fur animals is also supported by the general epidemiological pattern of several hundreds of sick and dead animals on the 20 farms. The exact mechanism of the transmission within and between farms is, however, not yet known.”
I spoke to @WHO's new chief scientist @JeremyFarrar about why he decided to take the job, what new technologies the world needs to prepare for and how dangerous #SARSCoV2 remains.
Q&A is here (and short thread coming in a bit): science.org/content/articl…
@WHO @JeremyFarrar Farrar is only the second person to hold this post. @doctorsoumya, who was the first, had to pivot to #covid19 after a few months in the position and so, Farrar told me, "it’s fair to say that the role of chief scientist is still to be fully framed".
@WHO @JeremyFarrar @doctorsoumya He wants to bring "a sense of tomorrow" into WHO, Farrar told me, anticipating new technologies:
"What is coming down the track? What do we need to prepare for now, to ensure that inequality and health disparities are not exaggerated by those new technologies?"
The @WHO has just declared an end to the #COVID19 public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).
"I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency", says @DrTedros at press conference going on now.
@WHO@DrTedros "That does not mean COVID-19 is over as a global health threat", says @DrTedros.
"Last week, COVID-19 claimed a life every three minutes and that's just the deaths we know about."
@WHO@DrTedros "As we speak, thousands of people around the world are fighting for their lives in intensive care units. And millions more continue to live with the debilitating effects of post-COVID19 condition", says @DrTedros.