Sign in

Jessie Abbate, PhD

@jessieabbate.bsky.social
1.3K followers 813 following 251 posts

Infectious disease ecologist & epidemiologist She/Her/Mama(n) 🇺🇸/🇲🇫 jessieabbate.wordpress.com Geomatys | Epiwise | The GRAPH Network | UVA Biocomplexity Institute | Former WHO, IRD, INRA

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
If you have an NIH or NSF program officer, post a comment!
12629
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him) 🦠🤧🧬📑🦟🧀 @mackayim.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
"While we can't predict what exactly will happen from now with the virus's spread, any wishful thinking it wouldn't establish in local birds is past." www.abc.net.au/news/science...
abc.net.au
Now bird flu has hit seagulls a 'super-spreader' event is more likely
Unlike other birds detected with the virus so far in Australia, seagulls travel beyond coastal environments to more urban and inland areas too.
2258
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Sarah Boon @snowhydro.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
One of the world's last butterfly collectors, and some difficult questions about the ethics of banning collecting. lareviewofbooks.org/article/emil...
lareviewofbooks.org
The Last of the Great Butterfly Collectors | Los Angeles Review of Books
‘Papilio nobilis, male.’
052
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
60,000+ comments on OMB’s proposal to politicize grants. The lesson: speak up. It makes a difference & it’s not over yet. 🎁 wapo.st/44YL4t1
WP story by Riley Beggin

Senate aims to block White House from gaining new power over science funding

https://wapo.st/44YL4t1
15217
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
👏🏽👏🏽 This August, the first at-home screening tool to determine whether the tick that bit you carries Lyme disease will hit the market www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/t...
23716
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD DSc(hon) @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
medicine.yale.edu/news-article...
Lyme
48908364
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Real time Ebola clinical trials in a high momentum outbreak
173
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
As the U.S. measles cases reach 35-year high in 2026, we owe children the protection they deserve
04910
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 02/08/2026
I worked for New York’s largest medical center at the start of the pandemic. There were morgue trucks on the streets. They set up emergency medical tents in Central Park. Healthcare worker colleagues died. It is horrific that RFK Jr is on national TV lying that ICUs were empty.
22672984110341
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
The confirmed #measles case count so far this year is now 2371, in only 7 months, compared to 2289 in all of 2025. Only 7 states haven't reported cases in 2026. Only 16 of these cases were imported, #CDC reports. www.cdc.gov/measles/data...
24424
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
“Is the United States ready for a deadly biological attack? I would say no..Look at the ongoing transmission of measles; that tells us all we need to know." www.newsweek.com/cyclospora-o...
newsweek.com
America's cyclospora outbreak foreshadows a biosecurity nightmare
As artificial intelligence lowers the bar to engineered pathogens, a parasite in lettuce is a stress test of U.S. preparedness.
041
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
“ 19 people have been started on a 10-day course of an experimental anti-viral drug to prevent people exposed to the virus from getting sick.” www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/w...
nytimes.com
Ebola Outbreak Is Now the Second-Deadliest Ever, and in Record Time
The disease has killed more than 1,500 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo in just over two months, causing deaths faster than officials have ever recorded.
197
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
The #Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak in NE DRC was likely underway for months before it was formally detected in mid-May. That's often the way with Ebola outbreaks, but the scale of the missed cases seems ... extraordinary. Terrific reporting by @kakape.bsky.social. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
EXCLUSIVE: Congo’s Ebola epidemic started at least 4 months before it was detected
A remote mining town gripped by fear saw hundreds of suspected cases before the government declared an outbreak, report says
28553
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Jon of The North @krauza.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Do you know what China's been doing while we've been dropping bombs and allocating more money for new weapons? Beating us on alternative energy, manufacturing, high speed rail, technology, microchips, and infrastructure.
4688712481
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
“There’s a huge cluster of cases in North Carolina and the southeastern states, which may well represent the second outbreak that’s not associated with the lettuce,” www.cidrap.umn.edu/cyclospora/d...
cidrap.umn.edu
A difficult-to-trace parasite, messaging missteps contribute to summer of overwhelming Cyclospora outbreaks
098
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
"RSV prevention might reduce viral triggers that facilitate bacterial invasion, and therefore could be considered as a complementary layer of protection against pneumococcal disease," www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...
medpagetoday.com
RSV Preventive Agent May Protect Against Another Serious Infection
French babies who received nirsevimab had lower rates of invasive pneumococcal disease
011
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
"We've not just largely eliminated measles from our country; we've eliminated the memory of measles," www.dw.com/en/amnesia-a...
dw.com
'Amnesia' about measles risk pushes growth in US infections
The latest US data show measles cases from January to mid-July 2026 totaled more than all cases in 2025. Experts blame a fall in vaccination and warn that people have forgotten measles can be life-thr...
073
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Jon of The North @krauza.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Turns out that food companies were only checking their food because the government told them to, which is exactly why we need government regulations.
40201844901
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
“The trial is assessing the safety and immune response of ChAdOx1 BDBV in 50 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 55 years.” www.cidrap.umn.edu/ebola/first-...
cidrap.umn.edu
First volunteer vaccinated in Ebola vaccine trial
The trial is assessing the safety and immune response of an investigational vaccine targeting Bundibugyo virus.
045
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
The @cfr.org is looking for a Managing Editor, Think Global Health @thinkglobalhealth.org careers-cfr.icims.com/jobs/2993/ma...
careers-cfr.icims.com
iCIMS Careers Portal
0105
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Ornikkar @ornikkar.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Le pyrocumulonimbus, un phénomène jamais vu en France, observé dans l'incendie en Gironde. Vu d'avion... www.instagram.com/p/DbQynbisRI...
instagram.com
Lionel Saal on Instagram: "🔥☁️ Quand un incendie crée sa propre météo… Cette photo, prise aujourd’hui depuis un avion de ligne, montre l’impressionnant incendie qui ravage actuellement la Gironde C...
18K likes, 233 comments - lionel_saal_ on July 26, 2026: "🔥☁️ Quand un incendie crée sa propre météo… Cette photo, prise aujourd’hui depuis un avion de ligne, montre l’impressionnant incendie qui rav...
2238
Jessie Abbate, PhD @jessieabbate.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Tried to take a day off and go to the family beach house just northwest of Bordeaux. Spent the day in the car instead. Home with family north east of Bordeaux and while safe, the smoke is inescapable. Glued to the news. Good luck to the responders. Nothing but dry kindling out there...
ici.fr
Incendie en Gironde : 110.000 personnes évacuées, le feu se dirige "vers la métropole bordelaise" - ICI
L'incendie qui s'est déclaré à Saumos au nord du bassin d'Arcachon (Gironde) mercredi, a parcouru plus de 19.000 hectares ce vendredi, 110.000 personnes ont été évacuées selon Laurent Nuñez. De nouvel...
110
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
DRC's #Ebola case count continues to climb. As of 07/22, there have been 2,905 confirmed cases, 1,269 of them fatal. At this pace it may not be long before this outbreak surpasses the 2018-2020 North Kivu outbreak, the 2nd largest on record (3470 cases, 2287 of them fatal). insp.cd/sitrep-n069-...
15224
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
The bits of animal data suggesting #Ervebo, the #Ebola Zaire vaccine, might be useful against #Bundibugyo Ebola are getting supported from data showing some cross protection in blood of vaccinees. That's leading to increasing calls to study the vaccine in DRC. www.statnews.com/2026/07/22/n...
statnews.com
New study supports testing of Merck’s Ebola vaccine in DRC outbreak
New data supports the idea that Merck’s Ebola vaccine Ervebo, licensed to target the Zaire species of ebolaviruses, could also offer some protection against another.
15816
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
1. Another European country is reporting cases of Dermatophilus congolensis, an animal skin disease, in men who have sex with men. Swiss researchers report in @eurosurveillance.org that they've detected 6 cases; two were likely imported, 4 locally acquired. www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2...
eurosurveillance.org
Human infections with Dermatophilus sp.: travel-associated first case and a local cluster in the context of emerging European outbreaks, Basel, Switzerland, 2025 to 2026
We report six human Dermatophilus infections diagnosed in Basel between May 2025 and March 2026. The travel-associated first case developed a pustular rash and conjunctivitis after a stay in Thailand....
12616
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Rep. Dr. Jasmine Clark @jasmineclarkforga.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
A quick update on the Cyclospora outbreak.
24870632277
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
“The Supreme Court has said in multiple occasions that the government can only deprive somebody of liberty, including for infectious diseases, if there’s an individualized determination that they pose a serious risk to the public and that hasn’t happened here” www.politico.com/news/2026/07...
politico.com
Americans in Congo barred from immediately returning home amidst Ebola outbreak
U.S. citizens in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will have to spend 21 days in a third country before returning to the U.S., even if they show no signs of disease.
072
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
“Reliable protective equipment, strong infection prevention systems, continuous training, psychosocial support, and safe working conditions are essential for every person delivering this response,” www.cidrap.umn.edu/ebola/africa...
cidrap.umn.edu
Africa CDC calls for more protection for health workers as deadly Ebola outbreak shows no sign of slowing
032
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver @cleaver.house.gov · 13/07/2026
We should have learned that you can’t manage a public health crisis by ignoring it. Politicizing science and weakening disease surveillance doesn’t make threats disappear, it only makes us less prepared to respond.
41395593648
Jessie Abbate, PhD @jessieabbate.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
One of the issues is that the response does bring in a lot of money, people with money, educated people, foreigners. Yet one more reason that "peace time" investment in robust local capacity and health systems is far more effective than big international responses.
bbc.com
Ebola misinformation is fuelling attacks on health workers in DR Congo
False claims about Ebola are linked to attacks on treatment facilities, assaults on health workers and disruptions to burials.
000
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Pandemic and Emergency Readiness Lab @mcgillperl.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
After SARS, Canada stockpiled masks. Then let them rot. COVID hit, and they had nothing. @picardonhealth.bsky.social: "When public health is successful, you're invisible." We never seem to learn that lesson. Do we ever? 🎙 Ep 5 of One Crisis After Another: youtu.be/9ufDTckCjpw?...
12613
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
My latest Perspective is out in PLOS Global Public Health: The Bundibugyo Ebola Virus Emergency and the Erosion of Global Health Security. ( open access) Global health security depends on investing before not, after the next outbreak. journals.plos.org/globalpublic...
journals.plos.org
The Bundibugyo Ebola Virus Emergency and the erosion of global health security
13512
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Reflections from a fired USAID worker: “My colleagues & I were notified that we were being cut as part of a ‘Reduction in Force.’ Meanwhile, we were also being publicly maligned in the media as ‘leftist radicals’”….we were compared to “a ball of worms” phworkforceok.substack.com/p/the-retire...
phworkforceok.substack.com
The Retirement Party I Never Had - Reflections on Loss and Identity from a Global Health Professional
A global health professional reflects on the grief and moral injury of losing a career path, watching institutions dismantled, and finding a new path forward.
18431
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
You cannot improvise a platform when you need it. You build it during the years when you don’t. That’s the real lesson of mRNA technology—and why the debate over Moderna’s flu vaccine matters far beyond influenza. open.substack.com/pub/ameshada...
open.substack.com
The Platform We Are Choosing to Give Away
The FDA may approve Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine. The larger question is whether America still intends to lead the technology that will power the next pandemic response
0123
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
This #Ebola outbreak was declared underway on 5/15, not yet 2 months ago. Weeks ago it became the 3rd largest on record. With DRC's 1708 cases & Uganda's 20 cases, it is halfway to becoming the 2nd largest on record. (DRC, 2018-2020, 3,470 cases.) Gonna be big.
06942
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
“Her life was a testament to the cruelty of disease and the power of medicine.” kfor.com/news/local/o...
kfor.com
Oklahoma woman, the last American in an iron lung, dies at 78
Martha Ann Lillard, 78, invited News 4’s Ali Meyer to her home three weeks ago because she was desperate for help with repairs.
23816
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Bedtime on day TWO of the 2026 United States of Science. 26 States have all their bubbles filled, 25 to GO (DC closed). A number of states could be closed with a strong breeze, including Idaho (4), Iowa (4), Hawaii (5), and Colorado (5). CA is closing in! Fill bubbles: givebutter.com/USS2026
a map of the united states with a blue west coast, pink middle, purple for northeast, and green southern states. Half of the bubbles are full! Wyoming inexplicably has two gritties in the bubbles
14220
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Delthia Ricks @dricks.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Volunteers are risking their lives to stop Ebola. They aren’t always welcome. Congolese workers who conduct safe burials are key to containing what could become the worst ever Ebola outbreak. They risk not just infection, but anger of terrified villages www.nytimes.com/2026/06/27/w... Gift Article
nytimes.com
Volunteers Are Risking Their Lives to Stop Ebola. They Aren’t Always Welcome.
0148
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Pathogens travel through the same global networks that economies depend upon. Weakening collective health systems does not reduce shared vulnerability; it amplifies it share.google/x4geIEbhQdUF...
share.google
Globalisation, rising authoritarianism, declining solidarity, and retreating multilateralism: A perfect storm for amplifying the risk of outbreaks
06434
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
One Lyme vaccine was killed with fear and litigation in 2002. Ticks have expanded their range significantly since then. If we squander this second chance for the same reasons, that's an ideologically-driven choice — not a safety decision. www.npr.org/2026/06/27/n...
npr.org
If a Lyme disease vaccine gets approved, how would it go over? We asked hunters
Drugmakers are working on a potential new shot to prevent the tick-borne illness. How might it fare in the era of vaccine skepticism?
032
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Amesh Adalja @ameshaa.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
“If you confine people, they will need to be supported with food. And if they don’t get food they will move,” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Ebola Patients Flee Treatment Centers in Congo for Food as Hunger Crisis Deepens
Ebola patients are fleeing treatment centers in the Democratic Republic of Congo in search of food, underscoring how hunger has become one of the biggest obstacles to containing the virus.
174
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Marc Veldhoen @marcveld.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Oh this is not good. US to end funding of South Africa's HIV programmes over claims of Afrikaner persecution Many inocents will needlessly die with these idiotic and childish cancellations.
bbc.com
US to end Pepfar funding of South Africa's HIV programmes
The US says South Africa is not doing enough to protect the white-minority Afrikaner community.
415267
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist @princess-vimentin.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
What a powerful message! My aai (maternal grandma) in India got small pox. My mom had to get the small pox vaccine. She has that same vaccine scar. Their generation saw the havoc. We were spared from that. The public health actions taken by the past generations affect the future of children. 🧪
What's that mark
in your arm, rama?

My smallpox vaccine scar!
why don't 工have one?

Because it worked.

Cartoon by Dawn Mockler
10649591180
Jessie Abbate, PhD @jessieabbate.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
he forgot the part where it then swallows you whole.
000
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Krutika Kuppalli, MD FIDSA @krutikakuppalli.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
A sobering interview with @who.int Director-General @drtedros.who.int by @helenbranswell.bsky.social on the escalating #Ebola outbreak in the #DRC and the immense challenges facing responders. Essential reading for anyone seeking to understand what is happening on the ground and what is at stake.
0145
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Krutika Kuppalli, MD FIDSA @krutikakuppalli.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Want to know what it's like to be at the epicenter of the current #Ebola outbreak in the #DRC and helping to lead the response? Read this outstanding interview with my colleague Chikwe Ihekweazu Executive Director of @who.int s Health Emergencies Programme. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
‘Working without them is painful’: WHO’s Ebola chief reflects on U.S. colleagues’ absence
Chikwe Ihekweazu, on the ground in Congo, discusses challenges of bringing the outbreak under control
05036
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
"Pathogens don’t recognize passports." Former #CDC chief scientist Deb Houry & @krutikakuppalli.bsky.social argue that the US approach to trying to keep #Ebola out of the country is not science based. www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
wsj.com
Opinion | The CDC’s Flawed Logic on Ebola Restrictions
The agency’s recent actions are a departure from longstanding public-health approaches.
111846
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
CIDRAP @cidrap.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Report warns international travelers, hunters of brucellosis risks People who consume unpasteurized milk or undercooked meat are also at risk of the zoonotic bacterial disease, which spreads through direct contact with infected animals. Read more: ow.ly/xa6S50Z7hTj 📷: USDA
A wild pig covered in mud stands on sand.
31911
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Daniel Payne @danielpayne.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
It's not just USAID and CDC cuts affecting outbreak responses: NIH cuts weakened network primed to respond to outbreaks like Ebola, by @aniloza.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2026/06/03/n...
statnews.com
NIH cuts weakened network primed to respond to outbreaks like Ebola
While NIH-funded centers weren’t on the front lines of virus responses like the CDC or USAID, some researchers involved in the network said the cuts have damaged relationships with experts in other co...
03322
Reposted by Jessie Abbate, PhD
Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
La Pryor is near Uvalde, about 50 miles inside the border. Even if this sample turns out to be something else, it's highly likely that screwworm is back in the United States.
reuters.com
Samples from Texas calves tested for possible screwworm, rattling markets
Samples of an unconfirmed infestation of the ‌flesh-eating screwworm parasite on a cattle ranch in La Pryor, Texas, have been sent to a federal government lab in Iowa to be tested, Texas Representativ...
54115