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Isaac Florence

@isaac-florence.bsky.social
2.4K followers 311 following 50 posts

Head of Health Protection Intelligence, Systems, and Data @ UK Health Security Agency. Infectious Disease Epidemiologist, Civil Servant, Global health person www.linkedin.com/in/isaacflorence

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Reposted by Isaac Florence
BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
We do not talk enough about how much vaccines have transformed Ebola outbreaks. The country stock pile of 2000 vaccines was immediately deployed to respond to the outbreak in the DRC and 45,000 additional doses have been approved for shipment to the DRC. www.afro.who.int/countries/de...
afro.who.int
Ebola vaccination begins in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Vaccination of frontline health workers and contacts of people infected with Ebola virus disease has begun in Bulape health zone in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Kasai Province where an outbr...
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
Christophe Fraser's Group @christophraser.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
New paper: we argue that a promising approach for studying mpox vaccine effectiveness in Central Africa to incorporate mpox vaccination + testing data into existing cohort studies, especially those for HIV/STIs. www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...
thelancet.com
Clade I mpox vaccination: strategies for deployment and evaluation
Clade I mpox continues to spread in Central Africa with no sign of abating,1 however very few doses of vaccine have been deployed. Mpox vaccination strategies using either of the licenced vaccines, MV...
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
A little bit of personal career news (1/3) 🙋🏻‍♂️ With great excitement, I’ve recently started a new part-time role as a Technical Advisor for UKHSA’s Global Health Protection Directorate, focusing on the International Health Regulations Strengthening Programme (IHR-SP) in Pakistan.
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Shaun Lintern @shaunlintern.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Just announced - @smhopkins.bsky.social will be the new chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency @ukhsa.bsky.social. Starting in September.
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
Healthwatch @healthwatch.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
www.gov.uk/government/n...
gov.uk
NHS begins rollout of world-first gonorrhoea vaccine programme
NHS and local authorities begin rollout of world-first gonorrhoea vaccination programme across the country.
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
The Health Protection Research Units have been hiring a lot recently for roles across public health, but this one is a little different: Drones for public health emergency logistics! Part of the @ukhsa.bsky.social and Uni Birmingham joint HPRU www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
findaphd.com
Coordinated Aerial Logistics for Emergency Response and National Resilience at University of Birmingham on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Coordinated Aerial Logistics for Emergency Response and National Resilience at University of Birmingham, listed on FindAPhD.com
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Newly published @ukhsa.bsky.social report prepared by Field Epidemiology Service colleagues and my team on Travel-Associated infections, as we approach peak infection season in late Summer and Autumn www.gov.uk/government/p... #EpiSky
gov.uk
Travel-associated infections in England: 2022, 2023 and 2024 (Regional analysis)
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UK Health Security Agency @ukhsa.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
We’re pleased to welcome Professor Robin May as UKHSA’s Interim Chief Scientific Officer from September. Robin joins us from @foodgov.bsky.social, bringing expertise in public health threats, and continues as Professor of Infectious Disease at @unibirmingham.bsky.social.
Professor Robin May will join UKHSA as Interim Chief Scientific Officer in September
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
The National Biosecurity Centre will "strengthen and formalise existing collaborations between UKHSA, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (Dstl) to bolster the UK’s resilience to deliberate, accidental or naturally occurring biological incidents"
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
UK Health Security Agency @ukhsa.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
The government has announced plans for our new headquarters in Harlow, Essex. The National Biosecurity Centre will be operational from the mid-2030s. This will create one of the world's largest health protection science centres, replacing facilities at Porton & Colindale www.gov.uk/government/n...
New UKHSA scientific facilities to be developed at Harlow, EssexWes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Ashley Dalton MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and PreventionWes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care; Ashley Dalton MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention; and Dyfed Alsop, UKHSA's Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
The Global Vector Hub @globalvectorhub.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
🦟"Vertical transmission in field-caught #mosquitoes identifies a mechanism for the establishment of #Usutu #virus in a temperate country" by Mirjam Schilling et al. at APHA, ZSL, @ukhsa.bsky.social in Scientific Reports @natureportfolio.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
Andrew Lee @andrewleedr.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
This death is really tragic and sadly avoidable. We have a safe and effective vaccine. High vaccination coverage protects not just the vaccinated but also the vulnerable in our communities. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Measles: Child dies at Alder Hey Children's hospital as cases surge
Seventeen children have been treated at the Liverpool hospital for the virus since June.
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
“The MI5 of disease prevention” - £1bn invested in new animal biosecurity centre as part of the National Security Strategy. Set up as part of the National Biosecurity Centre Network coordinated by the Cabinet Office, for making relationships with UKHSA, APHA, and Dstl www.gov.uk/government/n...
gov.uk
Greater security delivered for the British people with record billion-pound investment in new national biosecurity centre
Huge investment in new National Biosecurity Centre to protect the British public and the economy from future pandemics.
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
ICYMI: Health Protection Report on the Report a Notifiable Disease Service The service that I led development of with colleagues @ukhsa.bsky.social has been in National Public beta since September last year, and here is the first public data report on it 🧵 1/6 www.gov.uk/government/p...
gov.uk
HPR volume 19 issue 5: news (21 and 29 May 2025)
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 19/06/2025
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
*Job Alert* Fantastic opportunity for a Consultant Micro/Viro to join UKHSA's Global Health Protection Directorate in the International Health Regulation Strengthening Programme Part-time, fixed-term - more details below www.healthjobsuk.com/job/v7278982
healthjobsuk.com
Job vacancy: Global Health Consultant Microbiologist, UK Health Security Agency, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, London (Canary Wharf) | trac.jobs
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
Richard Amlôt @richardamlot.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
We're hiring! Please share through your networks - we are recruiting an SEO Senior Insights Manager in the Behavioural Science and Insights Unit at @ukhsa.bsky.social. For more information see: www.healthjobsuk.com/job/v7197975 Deadline for applications: Thursday 19th June 2025.
healthjobsuk.com
Job vacancy: Senior Insight Manager, UK Health Security Agency, London | trac.jobs
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
Sarah Newey @sneweyy.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
“To be honest, as an African, I am really embarrassed to see this,” said Dr Tedros of the crisis sparked by the aid cuts. “It’s embarrassing because it reveals a reliance, a dependency.” More from @who.int's Dr Tedros in this interview by @paulnuki.bsky.social: www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...
telegraph.co.uk
Global aid cuts will kill many – but Africa could benefit in the long run, says WHO chief
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says he is ‘embarrassed as an African’ over country’s aid dependency
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
Nick Loman @pathogenomenick.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Absolutely thrilled to announce the launch of ARTIC2 - a £5.5M 5 year project funded by @wellcometrust.bsky.social to build on the ARTIC approach of low-cost, globally accessible genome sequencing for surveillance of outbreaks, epidemics and endemic diseases: www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/am...
birmingham.ac.uk
Ambitious project to develop low-cost genome sequencing for pathogens known and unknown - University of Birmingham
Project will build on research that helped diagnostic labs to adopt sequencing capacity for COVID-19 and permit characterisation of future infectious threats
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
WHO @who.int · 19/05/2025
WHO faces a 21% reduction from the original proposed budget for the 2026-27 biennium. “If we think US$ 2.1 billion a year is ambitious—or $ 4.2 billion for the biennium—then either we must lower our ambitions for what WHO is and does, or we must raise the money.” - @drtedros.who.int bit.ly/3ZrwCXZ
Text on dark background reads:
4.2 billion dollars for two years – or 2.1 billion a year – is not ambitious, 
it’s extremely modest.

2.1 billion dollars is the equivalent of:

8 hours of global military expenditure or,
1 stealth bomber or,
3 months’ advertising expenditure by the tobacco industry.

"It seems somebody switched the price tags on what is truly valuable
in our world."

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
UK Health Security Agency @ukhsa.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Professor Dame Jenny Harries discusses COVID-19, vaccines & future pandemics with @adamfleming as she looks ahead to stepping down as Chief Executive of UKHSA. Listen to #BBCNewscast on @BBCSounds ▶️ www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
Professor Dame Jenny Harries appears against the backdrop of the BBC Newscast branding
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
Samantha Jones, current DHSC Non-Exec, former Nurse, hospital Chief Exec, and No 10 COO, announced as new Permanent Secretary at DHSC www.gov.uk/government/n...
gov.uk
New DHSC Permanent Secretary Appointed
Samantha Jones has been appointed as the new Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
Susan Hopkins @smhopkins.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Second report from @ukhsa Gastro teams (lab and epi) led by Clare Jenkins reporting imported cases of Cholera related to travel to Ethiopia and cases without travel who consumed holy water from the same site as travellers. 3/3 www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2...
eurosurveillance.org
Cholera due to exposure in Europe associated with consumption of holy water from Ethiopia, January to February 2025
In February 2025, public health agencies in Germany and the United Kingdom (UK) reported four cases of domestically acquired cholera caused by consumption of holy water imported from Ethiopia, and a f...
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
Antimicrobial resistance #AMR @antimicrobial.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
#AMR pertussis is rare, but epidemics raise the risk. In Japan, 5 cases of antibiotic-resistant whooping cough have been reported in Tokyo, tragically claiming the life of a baby girl. A reminder of the stakes in AMR surveillance and vaccine coverage. #InfectiousDisease mainichi.jp/english/arti...
mainichi.jp
1-month-old dies from antibiotic-resistant whooping cough in Tokyo - The Mainichi
TOKYO -- A one-month-old girl without underlying health conditions died after being infected with whooping cough, a highly contagious respiratory dise
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Job Opportunity - Senior Epidemiology Scientist at UKHSA You'd get to work with some brilliant colleagues in the Evaluation and Epidemiological Sciences division, part of the Chief Scentific Officer's Group. @ukhsa.bsky.social @iddjobs.org www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cg...
civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk
Quick Check NeededGOV.UK
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
Infectious Diseases @infectiousdz.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
Measles likely came from cows (via rinderpest) around the 6th century BCE. For 2,500 years, we didn’t evolve superhuman resistance—children just died. Real protection only came in the 1960s, with vaccines. Our superpower isn’t evolving into superhumans. It’s outthinking pathogens.
science.org
Measles virus and rinderpest virus divergence dated to the sixth century BCE
Measles virus diverged from rinderpest virus in the sixth century BCE, indicating an early origin for human measles.
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
Today is the big day for Notifiable Diseases in England. Eight (8) diseases today join the list of those that doctors in England are required to notify suspected cases of to @ukhsa.bsky.social. Following a long consultation and a lot of work across UKHSA and DHSC, these additions will: (1/4)
poster in pink background. "UK Health Security Agency" logo in top left corner; "NOIDs" in top right hand corner. Poster reads "Our notifiable diseases list has changed" and then "We've expanded the list of pathogens that registered medical professionals and laboratories must notify us about"
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
It's the end of our official first week of the new UKHSA structure. The changes have seen our team move alongside our data and technology colleagues, although we remain embedded in the home of Health Protection as part of the field epidemiology function.
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UK Health Security Agency @ukhsa.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
We need the help of academics, health & policy professionals, and people with lived experience of tuberculosis (TB) to shape our next TB Action Plan. Together we can improve how we prevent, detect, and control TB. 🛡️ 🗓️ Deadline: 2 May 🔗 www.gov.uk/government/n...
Dr Esther Robinson, Head of the TB Unit at UKHSA, said: 

"TB is curable and preventable, but the disease remains a serious public health issue in England. While England is still considered a low-incidence country for TB, the rise in cases over recent years means that we are now just below that threshold.

This call for evidence will help us develop an action plan that prioritises the most effective interventions to reverse this trend, focusing particularly on the needs of those most affected."
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
Meaghan Kall @kallmemeg.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
UKHSA reports new detections of vaccine-derived polio virus type 2 (VDPV2) in Leeds, London and West Sussex thru sentinel wastewater surveillance in November 2024 This is the first polio detection in wastewater for 2 years. www.gov.uk/government/p...
gov.uk
HPR volume 18 issue 11: news (10 December)
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Now out in The Lancet Microbe, a paper led by my brilliant friend Caitlin Pley. Very glad to have been involved with the little bit of stats and vis here on a rather more biomedical area than I usually work on. Short thread below 🧵 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Duration of viral persistence in human semen after acute viral infection: a systematic review
The persistence of viruses in human semen following acute infection can contribute to the ongoing transmission of a disease or cause resurgence after …
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
Richard Amlôt @richardamlot.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Do you work for an NHS, UKHSA or local authority public health team in England? Could you help shape a resource to support local teams to tailor messages for diverse communities? If so, please consider taking part in this research project & receive a £40 voucher in time for Christmas!
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
This thread demonstrates well more nuanced communication of early days in infectious disease incidents, which elsewhere is often lacking. Lab tests aren’t the full picture: who should be tested, consent for testing, who is being tested based on exposure, etc
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Meaghan Kall @kallmemeg.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Now seems a good time to collate a list of reputable, trustworthy public health voices. UK Public Health Starter Pack ⤵️ (Work in progress - will add suggestions!) go.bsky.app/Tuf8yqX
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Nick Loman @pathogenomenick.bsky.social · 25/10/2024
Delighted that Birmingham has been awarded HPRU status in Public Health Genomics! Am looking forward to working with stellar team from UKHSA and Birmingham on themes inc. env surveillance, metagenomics, novel genomics methods & analysis/data infrastructure www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2024/pr...
birmingham.ac.uk
Protecting the public from health threats - University of Birmingham
New Health Protection Research Units will help responses to future incidents including terrorism and pandemics
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Reposted by Isaac Florence
Susan Hopkins @smhopkins.bsky.social · 16/09/2024
UKHSA has published a technical briefing on #Mpox #cladeI - focussing on potential scenarios -indicators to provide signals for each scenarios - methodology for assigning risk in country - mitigations & interventions - current vaccine strategy assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66e83b...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 26/12/2023
Good primer on the ongoing risk of re-emergence of the deadliest Ebola virus outbreak from 2013-15 via dormant-like infections in survivors of the horrendous outbreak almost decade ago www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt... EpiSky Public Health
telegraph.co.uk
The Ebola survivors who are still infectious – 10 years after the world’s biggest outbreak
A decade after the virus ravaged West Africa, the threat of its return looms in an unlikely source: the testicles of men who survived
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Meaghan Kall @kallmemeg.bsky.social · 02/12/2023
The wheels are set in motion and dozens of people are diligently working over the weekend on H1N2 investigations and preparedness. It always seems an overreaction, until it’s not! Swine flu: what’s next after the first confirmed case in the UK? www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-...
bbc.co.uk
Swine flu: What's next after first confirmed case in UK?
What you need to know about the first confirmed case of a new type of flu, found in North Yorkshire.
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 01/12/2023
Out today: UKHSA annual report on efforts to eliminate HIV. Continue to meet and exceed UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets but progress not consistent with slower progress for women and GBMSM from ethnic minority groups. Report: www.gov.uk/government/p... PR: www.gov.uk/government/n...
gov.uk
Decline in HIV transmission but progress slow in women
Latest report reveals continuous decline in HIV transmission but progress is slow among women and ethnic minorities.
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 28/11/2023
Emerging infections monthly summary from our EI and Zoonoses colleagues. Including incidents of public health significance: an update to Dengue situation in Bangladesh and a new Nipah virus infection in India. Also covers Anthrax, MERS, Bubonic Plague, Polio and more www.gov.uk/government/p...
gov.uk
Infectious disease surveillance and monitoring for animal and human health: summary July to Septembe...
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Isaac Florence @isaac-florence.bsky.social · 15/11/2023
Professor Dame Jenny Harries opening the @UKHSA conference outlining the biggest concern for health security: Anti-microbial resistance, citing @UKAMREnvoy’s description of AMR as the Silent Pandemic.
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