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Isabel

@isabelott.bsky.social

11K followers 2.1K following 1.6K posts

Evolutionary & population biology of vector-borne viral disease systems. 🦟 genetics PhD student in NC. Arbovirologist & orthobunyavirus wonk. Public health advocate. 80s mosquito. Archives enthusiast. Coaster-sized earrings. Opinions own. (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈

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Isabel @isabelott.bsky.social · Jun 11

The Athens (GA) Immigrants Rights Coalition, which I volunteered with for several years, is currently fundraising for their Support for Immigrant Families in Crisis fund. 98.5% of donations go straight to families in need. Please boost & contribute if you can!
www.athensimmigrantrights.org/donate

SUPPORT FOR IMMIGRANT
FAMILIES IN CRISIS
SPRING 2025
ABOUT SIFIC
Support for Immigrant Families in Crisis (SIFIC) provides emergency assistance to local immigrant families who have limited access to resources, due to their documentation or economic status. SIFIC funds are used to help cover essential needs such as rent, utilities, food, medical expenses, attorney fees and legal fees. We are currently facing a deportation crisis that is separating families and the need for these kinds of support has escalated. Please help us to raise 25K this Spring, so that we can continue to help families in crisis! Thank you, Friend.

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Alex Sundermann, DrPH @sundermannaj.bsky.social · 3h

While yes, EIS folks will be back, there will definitely be discouragement for the best of the best to apply for future cohorts of EIS that will have lasting long term effects.

Folks will have to consider to apply knowing they may get RIF’d on a whim

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 4h

TRUMP CDC REVERSAL: Trump administration racing to reverse some CDC layoffs. Disease detectives, measles responders, MMWR staff RIF’s are revoked. DC office still shuttered. w/ @apoorvanyt.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...

Trump Administration Is Bringing Back Scores of C.D.C. Experts Fired in Error

www.nytimes.com

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 11h

“We can give $20 billion to Argentina but we can’t afford the CDC’s measles experts” is a hell of an argument

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Josh Busby @busbyj2.bsky.social · 7h

No way to run a government. Fired. Not fired. Fired again. Not fired. Pants on fire.

Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 7h

BREAKING: Some of the layoffs at CDC are being REVERSED.
Here is my updated story.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

More than 1,000 CDC staff receive layoff notices during government shutdown

Another round of mass layoffs has struck CDC. The agency had already been cut during a reorganization this year, and more employees are now being shed amid the government shutdown.

www.washingtonpost.com

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MSNBC @msnbc.com · 7h

'CDC is over': RFK Jr. lays off over 1,000 employees in Friday night massacre

"CDC is over": RFK Jr. lays off over 1,000 employees in Friday night massacre

Amid the ongoing shutdown, the HHS secretary wiped out entire offices that investigate disease outbreaks, manage infectious disease responses and collect data.

www.msnbc.com

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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 10h

Lots of Epidemic Intelligence Service officers ("disease detectives") gone.
In-country staff in Africa (including those helping to manage the current Ebola outbreak) are fired.

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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 10h

Per CDC source: At internal leadership meeting this afternoon, it was shared that 1,257 people were RIF'd at CDC. Number may not be final. Apparently, chief of staff was unaware that RIFs were going to occur so not clear who is making decisions. (Short 🧵)

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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 10h

Policy, comms, ethics, and science management (the people who clear science docs — determine whether they meet scientific standards) heavily hit.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report staff are gone.

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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 10h

Picked this up at a childrens book fair, should I mail it to the HHS secretary

LET'S-READ-AND-FIND - OUT SCIENCE®
GERMS
READING
RAINBOW
Воок
MAKE ME SICK!
BY MELVIN BERGER • ILLUSTRATED BY MARYLIN HAFNER

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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 14h

This is it. Very glad to see this full-throated welcome to queer people — and recognition of trans people’s history — from Zohran Mamdani in the closing month of his campaign and on National Coming Out Day.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 17h

UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.

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Amy Maxmen, PhD @amymaxmen.bsky.social · 14h

I'd love to hear from anyone who has been at agencies protecting public health this year (eg CDC, HHS, HRSA, HUD, NIH, OSHA). Privacy respected. Signal is AmyMaxmen.25

🧵Here's a thread of some of my stories this year on the impact of the Trump administration on America's public health.

Amy Maxmen, PhD @amymaxmen.bsky.social · Nov 10

Hi! I'm a public health reporter moving from THERE to here. Give me a follow if you're interested in my writing & take:

Public health isn't only about outbreaks & vaccines. It's about making society healthier outside of clinics. It requires systemic change, equity, a belief in the common good.

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Amy Maxmen, PhD @amymaxmen.bsky.social · 14h

Here's my investigative story on how, under Trump, the CDC was hampered from responding rapidly to measles in West Texas.

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

As Measles Exploded, Officials in Texas Looked to CDC Scientists. Under Trump, No One Answered. - KFF Health News

Trump officials sowed fear and confusion among CDC scientists, slowing their response to the measles outbreak in West Texas. Cases surged and sparked new outbreaks across the U.S. and Mexico. Together...

kffhealthnews.org

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Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 17h

RIF notices also sent to the CDC’s 2023 and 2024 class of civilian EIS officers known as its main disease detectives, per sources. These are the people who are typically the first responders in an outbreak. 4/4

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Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 17h

Among other RIF notices at CDC:
—Center for Forecasting and Analytics;
—all of CDC Washington
—Office of Human Resources
—National Center for Injury Prevention and Control 3/4

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Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 17h

The CDC official who was leading the measles response and was RIFd has more than 28 yrs experience as the senior USG official leading outbreaks on Ebola, Marburg virus, and mpox. 2/4

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 14h

an incontestable fact of the second trump administration is it is actively trying to sicken and kill as many americans as it can

Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 17h

NEW: @CDCgov hit hard by massive firings that several staff describe to me as a “bloodbath.”
Among those RIFd:
—leadership of the center for immunization and respiratory diseases;
—leadership of global health center
—leadership of the measles outbreak response; 1/4

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · Nov 13

if i've learned one thing from doing union stuff while also doing other forms of organizing, it's that you're better off with people you disagree with who are nevertheless trying to do the same thing as you than with people you agree with who aren't trying to do anything

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Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · 16h

It was yet another rough night for CDC employees: Dozens — possibly hundreds, they are still self-surveying — were let go late at night, including those who worked on the prestigious MMWR reports

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...

Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials

www.nytimes.com

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Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 15h

CDC has been a global leader in public health & played a key role in smallpox eradication. Health depts in red states & blue states rely on CDC expertise & support. The CDC EIS program trains the next generation of public health leaders & disease detectives.

They are burning it to the ground.

JAMA Health Forum Oct 9, 2025 by LO Gostin and P Lurie.
Abstract
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has long served as the cornerstone of the US
public health system, combining technical expertise, evidence-based policy recommendations, and high-quality health information. Yet, it is undergoing profound weakening by the Trump administration, including major funding cuts, the dismissal and resignation of experienced senior staff, and the erosion of its scientific independence. With tightening political control, public trust in
the CDC is diminishing. Undermining the agency’s reputation and capacities will reverberate for generations, making the nation less prepared for future health emergencies, including diseases of
pandemic potential. At this perilous moment, we document the current assault on the CDC that will inevitably have serious repercussion

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Ursula @ladyofsardines.bsky.social · 15h

Can repeat enough: Chicago is the rehearsal for what's ahead (and yes, is also already underway) in other cities — AND for the campaign of noncooperation & opposition that must be unleashed. We must study & practice & prepare.

I repeat: we love you, Chicago.

Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 16h

I know not everyone is who they thought they would be under a fascist, authoritarian regime. That's okay. But it's time to do more than react and post about it. It's time to get organized—including mapping or creating lines of support and defense in your community.

Mapping Community Defense and Care in Our Neighborhoods

This worksheet can help us prepare for Trump's military interventions at the neighborhood level.

organizingmythoughts.org

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whet moser @whetmoser.com · 16h

this is a really compelling analysis, and doesn’t try too hard to narrow it down to just one problem

David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 16h

Deep dive into the surge in US pedestrian deaths:

"It’s not that more pedestrians are getting hit by vehicles; it’s that the ones that are getting hit are more likely to die."

"[That] seems like fairly strong evidence for the theory that the rise in large SUVs is behind the uptick in ped deaths."

Why Are So Many Pedestrians Killed by Cars in the US?

It’s unfortunately not uncommon for pedestrians to be killed by cars in the US.

www.construction-physics.com

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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 15h

“Asset managers and financial advisers have concocted a zillion ways to disguise their fees. Congress wants to give them yet another.
A bill passed by the House and pending in the Senate would authorize portfolios often used in retirement accounts to skip reporting the expenses of certain funds”

Congress Thinks Hiding Fund Fees Is Good for You

Even if fund expenses seem to disappear, they’re still the biggest drag on your returns.

www.wsj.com

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Adam R Houston @healthlawadamh.bsky.social · 2d

WHO's fourth external situation report on the #Ebola outbreak in DRC. No new confirmed or probable cases since the previous report, which is good news...
www.afro.who.int/countries/de...

Screenshot of the title, date and situation update graph from the top of the linked report.

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Waggoner Lab @labwaggoner.bsky.social · 2d

Common cold embecovirus imprinting primes broadly neutralizing antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 S2 @jem.org @weillcornell.bsky.social
rupress.org/jem/article/...

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Mount St. Helens in 1980 @mountsthelens1980.bsky.social · 2d

#MSH45 | Richard Lasher
You've been at a job long enough to know a decent colleague to chat with.

The more you get to know them, the more they share. What's fact or fiction? You don't know, but you listen.

Then there's one story that's so over the top—a bona fide lie. But then, a photo appears.

A red Ford Pinto hatchback angles across a narrow gravel forest service road, a blue enduro motorcycle on a rear hitch carrier. Tall firs frame the view. Beyond them, a towering ash cloud from a pyroclastic density flow billows skyward. Photo by Richard Kent Lasher, May 18, 1980.

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Adam R Houston @healthlawadamh.bsky.social · 2d

Sorry to hear about the passing of Catarina de Albuquerque, who, as, the UN's first special rapporteur on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation, helped draw attention to the UN's failures (both of sanitation and accountability) in causing the Haitian cholera epidemic.

Screenshot of paragraphs 32-34 from this report https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g14/069/10/pdf/g1406910.pdf

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