Morgan Freney, PhD

So - I've actually led Ebola outbreak response at USAID.

This is bunk from Elon. They have laid off most of the experts, they're bankrupting most of the partner orgs, have withdrawn from WHO, and muzzled CDC.

What's left is a fig-leaf effort to cover their asses politically.

Make a huge mistake. Then make a false claim about how you fixed it.

They did it for PEPFAR.

Now Ebola.

I follow this particular topic VERY closely, so here's what really happened and why this isn't true AT ALL...🧵

1. This time last year, the US had only ever recorded 1 human infection with #H5N1 #birdflu, in 2022. With the confirmation of an infection in a Nevada dairyworker, there've now been 69 confirmed cases in 11 states.

New HPAI genotype found in Nevada dairy cows APHIS confirms first detection of D1.1 genotype in dairy cattle through NMTS testing.

Genotype D1.1 of H5N1 confirmed in Nevada cattle, which is the one circulating in birds and not B3.13, causing the wider cattle epizootic in the U.S.

In other words, this is a second observed jump from birds into cows.

Keep rolling the dice, shall we?

www.feedstuffs.com/agribusiness...

"A study of federally funded research projects in the United States estimated that principal investigators spend on average about 45% of their time on administrative activities related to applying for and managing projects rather than conducting active research"

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Academics from poorer socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to
- not publish
- have outstanding publication records
- introduce more novel scientific concepts
- less likely to receive recognition, as measured by citations, Nobel Prize nominations, and awards.
www.nber.org/papers/w33289

Congo's health ministry says unknown disease is severe malaria Democratic Republic of Congo's health ministry said on Tuesday that a previously unidentified disease circulating in the country's Panzi health zone is a severe form of malaria.

Mystery disease=severe malaria

"The mystery has finally been solved. It's a case of severe malaria in the form of a respiratory illness...& weakened by malnutrition," the DR of Congo's health ministry said. The disease has killed >140 people. 

www.reuters.com/world/africa...
#BlueSky #MedSky

@who.int Director-General's remarks at a media briefing on 10 December 2024:

"We cannot talk about COVID in the past tense. It’s still with us, it still causes acute disease and Long COVID, and it still kills.

The world might want to forget about COVID-19, but we cannot afford to."

Nobel Laureates Urge Senate to Turn Down Kennedy’s Nomination Elevating Mr. Kennedy to secretary of H.H.S. “would put the public’s health in jeopardy,” more than 75 laureates wrote.

More than 75 Nobel Prize winners have signed a letter urging senators not to confirm RFK Jr.

The letter marks the first time in recent memory that Nobel laureates have banded together against a Cabinet choice. But Kennedy is a threat they could not ignore, one said. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/h...

Sick animals suggest COVID pandemic started in Wuhan market A preliminary analysis takes a closer look at genomic data collected at the market.

Evidence in the "lab leak vs. spillover" covid debate always favored spillover, more so the more we learn. Two new pieces of information support spillover: Sick animals in the Wuhan market & no genetic similarities to Wuhan lab strains www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Re-reposting @scottehensley.bsky.social post, since this is the same mutation identified in the recent paper in Science from my colleagues at @scripps.edu.

As always, nature gets there first. The more chances we give the virus, the more chances it'll hit goal...

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Unknown disease kills 143 people in south-west DRC, local authorities say Infected people described as having flu-like symptoms including high fever and severe headaches

This story is making the rounds, so let me just say that the details are vague at this point, symptoms of headache and fever may very well be untreated malaria (and many other things), and common things are common.
We need more information about what this is or isn't.

RFK Jr. likes to call every health issue he wants to exploit an “epidemic”

He said recently there’s a SKYROCKETING epidemic of Alzheimer’s Disease in the US because of the “poisons” in our food.

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Hello 👋🏻🌏 let’s give this platform a try.

I’m a molecular virologist from Aus 🇦🇺 working in high containment ☣️ developing antivirals to prepare us for the next pandemic 🦠🧬

Algorithm, pls connect me with fellow #scicomm enthusiasts, #publichealth experts and anyone whose special interest is viruses!