Dr. Anne Rimoin

I am so honored to be named the Gordon–Levin Endowed Chair in Infectious Diseases and Public Health at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health @UCLAFSPH . Thank you Tom Gordon for your support and recognition of the importance of public health research.

Same! 👇🤣🇧🇪🇨🇩✈️🤣

A person in Washington State who kept backyard poultry has died from #H5N5 #flu. The person was the first known infection with this subtype of flu globally & the second recorded death in the US from an #H5 flu virus. Health authorities say there's no evidence the person spread the virus to others.

1) So, the Washington State H5 case is an H5N5, it seems. That doesn't make less or more worrisome than H5N1. High path H5N5 has been detected in Canada a number of times. It is a reassortant between circulating H5N1 and low pathogenic avian influenza virus with N5 NA.

.@WHO is working closely with #Ethiopia’s @FMoHealth, the Ethiopia Public Health Institute and regional health authorities as part of the rapid response to a suspected outbreak of a viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF) in the Southern Ethiopian Region. 8 people, including health workers, have reportedly been infected. WHO has deployed experts to the affected towns, along with medicines and other materials to support care for people in need, and personal protective equipment for health workers. WHO will also be supporting contact tracing in affected communities. Samples have been sent for testing. Further details are expected soon. I have released US$300,000 from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies to provide immediate support. WHO’s offices in Ethiopia and South Sudan are collaborating closely to prevent potential cross-border transmission. WHO is ready to scale up support, as and when needed. I commend Ethiopian health authorities for their timely sharing of information and quick response and offer WHO’s full support. afro.who.int/news/ethiopia-…

Update on the wild #polio discovery in Germany: The virus was found in wastewater in Hamburg. @rki_de, the German public health agency, says the virus sequence is very similar to some isolated in Afghanistan, so the likely source was an infected human. (page 10 here: rki.de/DE/Aktuelles/P…)

An honour and pleasure to put this piece together with @NikkiRomanik!

@dr_demetre Thank you for your service, Demetre. You are an exceptional human, scientist, and steward of the public’s health.

My resignation letter from CDC. Dear Dr. Houry, I am writing to formally resign from my position as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), effective August 28, 2025, close of business.   I am happy to stay on for two weeks to provide transition, if requested. This decision has not come easily, as I deeply value the work that the CDC does in safeguarding public health and am proud of my contributions to that critical mission. However, after much contemplation and reflection on recent developments and perspectives brought to light by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., I find that the views he and his staff have shared challenge my ability to continue in my current role at the agency and in the service of the health of the American people. Enough is enough. While I hold immense respect for the institution and my colleagues, I believe that it is imperative to align my professional responsibilities to my system of ethics and my understanding of the science of infectious disease, immunology, and my promise to serve the American people.  This step is necessary to ensure that I can contribute effectively in a capacity that allows me to remain true to my principles. I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health.  The recent change in the adult and children’s immunization schedule threaten the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people.   The data analyses that supported this decision have never been shared with CDC despite my respectful requests to HHS and other leadership.  This lack of meaningful engagement was further compounded by a “frequently asked questions” document written to support the Secretary’s directive that was circulated by HHS without input from CDC subject matter experts and that cited studies that did not support the conclusions that were attributed to these authors.  Having worked in local and national public health for years, I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people. It is untenable to serve in an organization that is not afforded the opportunity to discuss decisions of scientific and public health importance released under the moniker of CDC.  The lack of communication by HHS and other CDC political leadership that culminates in social media posts announcing major policy changes without prior notice demonstrate a disregard of normal communication channels and common sense.  Having to retrofit analyses and policy actions to match inadequately thought-out announcements in poorly scripted videos or page long X posts should not be how organizations responsible for the health of people should function.  Some examples include the announcement of the change in the COVID-19 recommendations for children and pregnant people, the firing of scientists from ACIP by X post and an op-ed rather than direct communication with these valuable experts, the announcement of new ACIP members by X before onboarding and vetting have completed, and the release of term of reference for an ACIP workgroup that ignored all feedback from career staff at CDC. The recent term of reference for the COVID vaccine work group created by this ACIP puts people of dubious intent and more dubious scientific rigor in charge of recommending vaccine policy to a director hamstrung and sidelined by an authoritarian leader.   Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults.  Their base should be the people they serve not a political voting bloc. I have always been first to challenge scientific and public health dogma in my career and was excited by the opportunity to do so again.  I was optimistic that there would be an opportunity to brief the Secretary about key topics such as measles, avian influenza, and the highly coordinated approach to the respiratory virus season.  Such briefings would allow exchange of ideas and a shared path to support the vision of “Making America Healthy Again.”  We are seven months into the new administration, and no CDC subject matter expert from my Center has ever briefed the Secretary.  I am not sure who the Secretary is listening to, but it is quite certainly not to us.  Unvetted and conflicted outside organizations seem to be the sources HHS use over the gold standard science of CDC and other reputable sources.  At a hearing, Secretary Kennedy said that Americans should not take medical advice from him.  To the contrary, an appropriately briefed and inquisitive Secretary should be a source of health information for the people he serves. As it stands now, I must agree with him, that he should not be considered a source of accurate information. The intentional eroding of trust in low-risk vaccines favoring natural infection and unproven remedies will bring us to a pre-vaccine era where only the strong will survive and many if not all will suffer.  I believe in nutrition and exercise.  I believe in making our food supply healthier, and I also believe in using vaccines to prevent death and disability.  Eugenics plays prominently in the rhetoric being generated and is derivative of a legacy that good medicine and science should continue to shun. The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning.  My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so.  I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud.   I am resigning because of the cowardice of a leader that cannot admit that HIS and his minions’ words over decades created an environment where violence like this can occur.  I reject his and his colleagues’ thoughts and prayers, and advise they direct those to people that they have not actively harmed. For decades, I have been a trusted voice for the LGBTQ community when it comes to critical health topics.  I must also cite the recklessness of the administration in their efforts to erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research to support equity as part of my decision. Public health is not merely about the health of the individual, but it is about the health of the community, the nation, the world. The nation’s health security is at risk and is in the hands of people focusing on ideological self-interest. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the opportunities for growth, learning, and collaboration that I have been afforded during my time at the CDC. It has been a privilege to work alongside such dedicated professionals who are committed to improving the health and well-being of communities across the nation even when under attack from within both physically and psychologically. Thank you once again for the support and guidance I have received from you and previous CDC leadership throughout my tenure. I wish the CDC continued success in its vital mission and that HHS reverse its dangerous course to dismantle public health as a practice and as an institution.  If they continue the current path, they risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States. Sincerely, Demetre C. Daskalakis MD MPH (he/his/him)

@colehaddon @arimoin Highly rec this episode. I found the new ideas about art’s relationship, and failures, to the pandemic really interesting.

@celinegounder @GrantWahl Thinking of you. ❤️

24 years ago today on Bainbridge Island

Flu season is hitting hard across the U.S. 🦠📈 I joined @CBSNews to talk about what’s driving the surge and what you can do to avoid getting sick.

Perspectives on Clade I mpox preparedness in the US (which likely translate well to other high income regions) Thanks to my esteemed colleagues Drs. @arimoin and @syramadad for including me here 🙏 medpagetoday.com/opinion/second…

My interview on @KTLA with @chercalvin and @TheRickChambers discussing avian influenza. youtu.be/Sd08VWL4J_U?si… via @YouTube

Great work from the MBOTE consortium (mbote-mpox.com) under the lead of @inrb_kinshasa @PlacideMbala , togher with @ITMantwerp @KindrachukJason @nicolamlow @Eddy_Lusamaki_K @arimoin @tonywawinab @jcmakson @UCLAFSPH @umanitoba

My perspective on the unknown pathogen currently causing a severe respiratory outbreak in #DRCongo in this article by ⁦@NBCNews⁩: Good news is that there are experienced local teams on the ground investigating. Lab analyses are a critical next step. nbcnews.com/health/health-…

@KrutikaKuppalli @PeterASinger @UTSWMedCenter @SaadOmer3 Congrats!🎉

@PeterASinger @UTSWMedCenter @SaadOmer3 Thanks so much Peter! Hope you are doing well!

Excited to share some professional news. After three rewarding years working with the World Health Organization on COVID-19, mpox and other emergencies, I am thrilled to return to academic medicine. I recently joined @UTSWMedCenter as an Associate Professor with a dual appointment in the Division of @UTSWInfDis in the @UTSWInternalMed and @utswosph Looking forward to caring for patients, teaching future healthcare and public health professionals, expanding our global health program, and collaborating with my prior and new colleagues!

New work from a fantastic team led by our UCLA and INRB colleagues: A Peer-Educator Driven Approach for Sampling Populations at Increased Mpox Risk in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:  Implications for Surveillance and Response medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

Of the 36 confirmed #Marburg cases in Rwanda so far, 29 are healthcare workers, says Rwanda's minister of health @nsanzimanasabin. Good reminder that nurses and doctors are on the frontlines every day all over the world - and often without access to adequate protection.

.@WHO prequalified the first vaccine against #mpox, the MVA-BN vaccine: bit.ly/3TrwK71 This is an important step in our fight against the disease, both in the context of the current outbreaks in Africa, and in future. We now need urgent scale up in production, procurement, donations and rollout to ensure equitable access to vaccines where they are needed most.

Mh, not great.

Important article in @CDCMMWR on risk of #mpox and air travel. BLUF: Data collected on 113 travelers w/#Mpox (Clade II) on 221 commercial flights and follow-up on 1000+ contacts. ZERO instances of transmission. tinyurl.com/yuerfmah