Chikungunya therapy shows promise in first-in-human study MUNICH — A monoclonal antibody being studied as a potential therapy for chikungunya virus infection showed potential as both a treatment for the mosquito-borne disease and as pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent infection, researchers said. Hugh Watson, PhD, president of Quayside Research in Lyon, France, and colleagues studied the mAb, called EVT894, in a first-in-human randomized,

Commenting on the first-in-human trials of a therapeutic for chickungunya, Dr. David Hamer underscores the urgent need for treatment to prevent complications & severe disease. He says it's an intriguing future treatment option, given the pre-clinical evidence.
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Request for information (RFI): Undiagnosed febrile illnesses with one death reported in Boni Forest, Lamu County, Kenya; widespread transmission in remote villages. RFI on diagnostic testing results
beaconbio.org/en/report/

Request for information (RFI): Unconfirmed social media rumors on an increase in meningitis cases in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. RFI on case numbers and causative pathogen(s)
beaconbio.org/en/report/

Rural Health Fractured: Emerging Disease & the Crisis of Misinformation | News | Hillsdale Hospital Today we're talking about infectious disease management in rural healthcare settings. Dr. Bhadelia is here to share her perspective and insight as an infectious disease physician. We'll talk about the role hospitals play in infectious disease prevention, public trust in healthcare authorities, and of course, what it all has to do with rural health.

CEID director @bhadeliamd.bsky.social joins the Rural Health Today podcast to discuss challenges around misinformation about infectious diseases, and how healthcare providers can better help dispel misinformation through conversations with their patients.
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Request for information (RFI): Food-borne illness cluster reported in Constantine, Algeria, with 63 hospitalize...
beaconbio.org/en/report/

@bostonu.bsky.social @bmchealthsystem.bsky.social @unmc.bsky.social @netec.org @ucdavishealth.bsky.social @onehealthinstitute.bsky.social @lsauer.bsky.social @bidmcreseach.bsky.social

Ethical Preparedness for U.S. Biocontainment Units - Journal of Bioethical Inquiry Biocontainment units (BCU) are purpose-built to provide medical care for patients with high consequence infectious diseases (e.g., viral haemorrhagic fevers, Middle East respiratory syndrome) and to contain the risk of disease spread. In the United States, high consequence infectious diseases (HCID) are often quarantinable diseases designated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and local health departments, and BCU play a prominent role when public health faces an HCID threat. Patients admitted to a BCU have access to a high resource healthcare setting, but admission to the unit comes with restrictions to the rights and liberties of patients. This article begins with an introduction to BCUs and the preparedness activities that ensure the units are ready to respond. Next, it explores the significance of public health ethics for two public health interventions—quarantine and isolation care and diagnostic testing—that may place burdens on patients in a BCU. Finally, we make recommendations for integrating ethical considerations into preparedness activities to develop, formulate, and justify plans and protocols before the need to implement them in a BCU arises.

Recent publication by @bhadeliamd.bsky.social—along with several of our affiliate faculty throughout the country—makes recommendations for ethical considerations to factor when planning and developing biocontainment units. doi.org/10.1007/s116...

Request for information (RFI): Autochthonous mpox transmission reported in Sindh province, Pakistan with 25 con...
beaconbio.org/en/report/

Bing

WOAH statement and UN-FAO alert: Transboundary spread of foot and mouth disease (FMD) serotype SAT1 beyond endemic range into Europe, Asia, and the Middle East
beaconbio.org/en/report/

Ep 3 | Dr. Nahid Bhadelia - From the Frontlines to the White House: Outbreak Response & Preparedness YouTube video by NAAMA NextGen

CEID Director @bhadeliamd.bsky.social joins NAAMA NextGen's podcast, discussing her frontline experiences in infectious disease response and current concerns she has about health equity in pandemics.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoLk...

Being Boston’s University BU is more than a hub of learning, teaching, and research. It’s firmly rooted in—and engaged with—the city of Boston, partnering with its government, schools, nonprofits, and neighborhoods in so many ways.

One of the many ways that @bostonu.bsky.social is interconnected with our home city is CEID's partnership with the @museumofscience.bsky.social, offering engaging events about our work fighting infectious disease threats around the world.
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BU Giving Day may be over, but the donations keep coming in! You can continue to add to our total gifts through Sunday night at the link below. give.bu.edu/schools/Bost...

If you missed Giving Day yesterday, it is not too late to make a contribution. Donations can still be made at the link below through Sunday, April 12th.
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A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made a gift to CEID on BU Giving Day. We received $5,110 in generous donations. These gifts help our critical work of global pandemic preparedness & response through training future public health researchers & projects like @beaconbio.bsky.social.

The Hamptons Has a Bird Flu Problem

This winter the Hamptons grappled with how to safely dispose of hundreds of geese killed by H5N1, with a local landscaper taking on the massive task. @bhadeliamd.bsky.social reminds us that while bird-to-human transmission is relatively rare, the risk is non-zero.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/s...

Giving Day is under way, and we've already received $5,095 in generous gifts. Please consider making a donation at the link below:
give.bu.edu/schools/Bost...

174 million alcohol prep pads voluntarily recalled over contamination with rare bacterium | dvm360 The voluntary recall affects more than 300 lots of Webcol Large Alcohol Prep Pads used in veterinary clinics for surgical preparation and wound care.

Veterinary medicine magazine dvm360 advised their readers about a recent recall of 174 million alcohol prep pads, citing reports and analysis from our @beaconbio.bsky.social program.
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Request for Information: Suspected mpox clade 1b cluster detected in Khairpur, Sindh, Pakistan with neonatal ca...
beaconbio.org/en/report/

Request for Information (RFI): Suspected food-borne illness cluster among hostel residents in Ahmedabad, India, with 57 students affected. RFI on results of diagnostic testing
beaconbio.org/en/report/

Season 2, Episode 11: Katharina Krause and Brooke Bocast on The Many Ways of Doing Research on Global Health Politics - The Global Health Politics Podcast In this episode, I sit down with two researchers doing very exciting - but also very different - kinds of research on global health politics. In the first conversation, I talk with Dr. Katharina Krause, an international relations scholar who is a ...

The latest ep of @ghpoliticspodcast.bsky.social from @josephharrisbu.bsky.social includes conversations with @katharinakrause.bsky.social & Dr. Brooke Bocast on their respective research, spanning very different forms of health research.
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Bing

Request for Information (RFI): Suspected foot and mouth disease (FMD) amid reported pasteurellosis in multiple Russian regions
beaconbio.org/en/report/

Foundations I: Conceptual Foundations of Pathogen Genomics | Harvard Medical School Professional, Corporate, and Continuing Education Discover how pathogen genomics informs public health decisions and practice.

Interested in learning more about pathogen genomics for disease surveillance & response? Our colleagues at @massdph.bsky.social have developed two free online foundational courses the subject through @harvardmed.bsky.social, open to anyone, any time.
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student research grant opportunity

Today is the last day to apply for our student & trainee research grants. Send us your research proposals for projects on emerging infectious diseases, outbreaks, global health security, or pandemic preparedness by midnight for an opportunity at $5000. Full details here: spr.ly/63327B6bQLF

What To Know About BA.3.2, The Highly Mutated COVID Variant Spreading Across The World Right Now Experts explain why this particular strain is more likely to overcome immunity from vaccination or previous infection.

The latest COVID-19 variant, BA.3.2 "has a large number of spike protein mutations, which may help it partially evade immunity from prior infection or vaccination," explains @drsyramadad.bsky.social, but she notes there's no evidence it's causing more severe illness.
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"Tuberculosis is curable. Know your symptoms. Get tested early. Follow your treatment plan."

Today is #WorldTBDay Yes! We can end TB!
In a recent @ghpoliticspodcast.bsky.social ep, @josephharrisbu.bsky.social spoke to John Green, author of Everything Is Tuberculosis, about this disease for which we have a cure, but still kills over a million people a year.
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"Rapid testing of tuberculosis is available & recommended. Early diagnosis is a gamechanger!"

Today is #WorldTBDay TB & Hep C infections share many risk factors & settings. Research by Dr. Leonardo Martinez finds those w/ Hep C are at higher risk of TB. This supports the need for comprehensive TB screening in those with Hep C & early treatment for Hep C.
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Series 1: Behind the Spread: A Scoping Review of Risk Factors for Exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis | MDPI Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health challenge, with transmission influenced by the incidence of contagious people with TB, the duration of infectivity, and the probability of contact with susceptible individuals.

Today is #WorldTBDay In recent research, Dr. Pranay Sinha (@bumedicine.bsky.social) examines the risk factors for exposure to TB. The more we understand these risk factors, the better we can mitigate the spread.
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Today is #WorldTBDay Yes! We can end TB!
TB is curable and vaccine-preventable, yet over 1 million still die from it every year. You can find the full range of research our faculty & students' research are conducting on TB risk factors & interventions here: spr.ly/63323B6z08h

Building on his previous research quantifying uncounted deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic, @astokespop.bsky.social's latest research seeks to identify which populations were most often under-counted. Identifying these disparities can help avoid them in the future.
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Study Points to Massive Undercount of Early COVID Deaths in the U.S. Official count may have missed more than 150,000 coronavirus-related fatalities

Discussing his latest research, @astokespop.bsky.social told @medpagetoday.com, "If we improve death investigation systems & the quality of our national death surveillance data, we'll be much better prepared to detect the next pandemic earlier and more fully."
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