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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · 19d

reat to see this collaborative effort out bridging our colleagues from Sierra Leone, DRC, Belgium, US, and Canada. Kudos to my MSc student Michaella Jaba and all of our team

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Surface sampling for mpox virus in multiple healthcare settings in Sierra Leone, June 2025

Background: As mpox virus (MPXV) has continued to expand geographically, critical knowledge gaps in environmental persistence in resource-limited healthcare settings remain. Despite evidence of fomite...

www.medrxiv.org

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Reposted by Jason Kindrachuk

BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · Sep 5

I think about this a lot!
Medical professionals and their societies are sounding the highest level of alarm about the dangers of rejecting science and favoring conspiracy theories and it is hardly breaking through.
That's how far down the rabbit hole the US is.
This fight is hard.

Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · Sep 4

The fact that you can have all of these organizations calling for Kennedy's resignation (or the NYTimes op-ed by 9 former CDC directors) and it having so little discernible impact is a sign of how far the US has moved from valuing scientific advice and expertise and how big a challenge it faces...

Second part of a list of organizations that signed the statement:
Infectious Diseases Society of America 
HIV Medicine Association

ID Care

International Association of Providers of AIDS Care 

NTM Info & Research 

Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society  

Peggy Lillis Foundation

Seattle Children’s Research Institute

Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America

Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP)

Stop TB USA 

Treatment Action Group

First part of a list of organizations that signed the statement:
Infectious Diseases Society of America 

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology

American Academy of HIV Medicine 

American Association of Immunologists

American Public Health Association

American Society for Microbiology

American Society for Virology

Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) 

AVAC  

Camenzind Solutions LLC 

Fast-Track Cities Institute

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Reposted by Jason Kindrachuk

Nicola Low @nicolamlow.bsky.social · Aug 28

Amazing achievement of global solidarity #SmallpoxEradication

Now, we just have #mpox 🙊

New outbreaks, new lineages #orthopox 🦠

#VaccinesWork but 💉 needs to be delivered to #DRC #Africa now

@boghuma.bsky.social @kindrachukjason.bsky.social @onisillos.bsky.social

WHO @who.int · Aug 28

#ThrowbackThursday: In 1980 the 🌍🌎🌏 was declared #smallpox free, thanks to mass vaccination efforts.

Smallpox was an acute contagious disease caused by the variola virus. It was one of the most devastating diseases known to humanity. #VaccinesWork

World Health: The Magazine of the World Health Organization. May 1980. smallpox is dead!

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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Aug 28

Completely agreed. We know what can be achieved with ingenuity and perseverance - but need global leaders to champion this

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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Aug 8

I’m actually at a loss for words…

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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Aug 8

I haven’t heard anything new on h2h transmission for IIa

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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Jul 30

A pleasure to be included on this as part of the WHO TAG-VE along with many esteemed colleagues:

A systematic nomenclature for mpox viruses causing outbreaks with sustained human-to-human transmission

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A systematic nomenclature for mpox viruses causing outbreaks with sustained human-to-human transmission - Nature Medicine

We propose a new nomenclature for mpox virus lineages with sustained human-to-human transmission to improve tracking, communication and public health response.

www.nature.com

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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Jul 20

Thank you 🙏

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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Jul 18

Thank you 🙏

Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Jul 18

Thank you so much 🙏

Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Jul 18

Thank you! Feeling is very mutual

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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Jul 18

🤣 thanks!

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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Jul 18

Going to maintain my program at UM for the time being. It will be a hefty balance but really proud of the work we’ve been doing internationally through the generous support of our funders

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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Jul 18

Thanks!

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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Jul 18

A very exciting professional update below that I can now share:

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

New leader coming to infectious disease lab in Winnipeg | CBC News

A new leader is coming to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, after its head stepped down just months after taking over leadership of the embattled laboratory that was previously at the ...

www.cbc.ca

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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Jul 1

🙏

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Reposted by Jason Kindrachuk

Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · Jun 26

The quote below is from Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos, who recently resigned from CDC after co-leading the ACIP COVID work group. The new ACIP jettisoned work group experts in favor of anti-vax activists.
👉Canada's NACI is now the best source for evidence-based vax recommendations in North America

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · Jun 26

“As a physician and scientist who has devoted my entire career to vaccines and preventing and treating infections, this meeting has been devastating to watch.” ACIP votes to stop recommending some vaccines, even though they're safe and effective. nyti.ms/3ZT1pxg

RFK Jr.’s New Advisers Rescind Recommendations for Some Flu Vaccines

Panelists pulled back some endorsements for certain vaccines containing a preservative that critics have falsely linked to autism.

nyti.ms

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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Jun 19

Huge congratulations to everyone on the team with great vision leadership for this work from Drs. Laurens Liesenborghs and Placide Mbala, and the MBOTE consortium. And an ongoing debt of gratitude to all study participants from our work

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Three Cases of Vertical Transmission of Clade Ib Mpox Virus | NEJM

This report describes three cases of clade Ib MPXV infection in pregnant women (one in each trimester of gestation) with molecular and histopathological evidence of transplacental transmission.

www.nejm.org

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Reposted by Jason Kindrachuk

Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · Jun 12

A lightning-fast, in-depth look into who RFK Jr selected for the vaccine advisory committee. One of whom was an expert witness against Merck's vaccine, despite RFK's stated reason of reducing conflicts of interest, per @reuters.com.

Well done @heidiledford.bsky.social and @rfieldmouse.bsky.social

Nature @nature.com · Jun 12

Critics fear that anti-vaccine leader’s picks for crucial committee will be a ‘disaster for public health’

https://go.nature.com/3Tn7GgO

Who is on RFK Jr’s new vaccine panel — and what will they do?

Critics fear that anti-vaccine leader’s picks for crucial committee will be a ‘disaster for public health’.

go.nature.com

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Reposted by Jason Kindrachuk

Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · Jun 9

An explosive surge of mpox infections in Sierra Leone has pummelled its health-care system, raising fears it will spark a larger outbreak in densely populated West Africa.

“The situation is so dire,” says Jia Kangbai, a researcher in Sierra Leone. With @kindrachukjason.bsky.social, for @nature.com.

Skyrocketing mpox outbreak in Sierra Leone raises fears of wider spread

Boom in infections in the West African nation is driven by the same viral strain that caused a global outbreak in 2022.

www.nature.com

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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Jun 9

Thanks for covering this, Max 🙏

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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Jun 9

Update #1: Rolling clinical and epi updates for #mpox data from #SierraLeone. Watch for updated versions as additional data becomes available. Heartfelt thanks to our local colleagues in-country led by Dr. Jia Kangbai

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Clinical and epidemiological characteristics among probable and confirmed patients with mpox in Sierra Leone reported from January to May 2025

We analysed available mpox cases reports in Sierra Leone from January to May 2025 following a historic increase in mpox cases across multiple urban and rural regions in the country. Here, we assessed ...

www.medrxiv.org

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Reposted by Jason Kindrachuk

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Jun 6

Very smart, high ROI initiative from the Spencer Foundation.

Providing bridge funding for canceled NSF grants:

1) directs funds to projects already screened by a top-noch review process.
2) avoids imposing proposal prep costs on researchers.
3) ameliorates the disruption from GOP sabotage.

Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program

In the face of recent abrupt shifts in federal funding for education research, including large-scale terminations of National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant awards, we have developed a rap...

www.spencer.org

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Reposted by Jason Kindrachuk

Siân Owen @sianowen.bsky.social · Jun 3

The Wadsworth Center is expanding it's research focus on #virology /vector-borne diseases!
www.asmcareerconnections.org/job/research-scientist-5-g-31/78488664/
This is a unicorn assistant prof equivalent position with 12-month hard money salary and no teaching commitments (!)
Reposts appreciated 🙏

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Jason Kindrachuk @kindrachukjason.bsky.social · Jun 2

Great piece from @kakape.bsky.social on #mpox in #SierraLeone that features a great array of experts and colleagues. A pleasure to speak alongside these wonderful individuals

Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · Jun 2

An explosive outbreak of mpox in Sierra Leone is raising fears of wider spread. The country of 9 million has seen more than 3000 cases already.
“We could see very rapid geographic expansion […] if we don’t really try and get things under control quickly,” says @kindrachukjason.bsky.social
🧪 #IDsky

Explosive mpox outbreak in Sierra Leone overwhelms health systems

Rapid transmission through sexual networks raises fears of wider spread in the region

www.science.org

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