Chris Walzer
@cwalzer.bsky.social
Austrian 🇦🇹 in New York 🇺🇸 Exec. Director of Health | One Health Veterinarian | Univ. Prof Conservation Medicine | Opinions are my own.
Until Friday, Australia was the only continent free from HPAI H5N1. Sadly, this is not the case - a 2344b confirmation in a Brown Skua, and a suspected case in a Northern Giant Petrel which turned up in WA. 👉 www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06... (1/x)
[Commentary] Recent disease outbreaks are predictable consequences of ecological and political systems, @wcs.org's @cwalzer.bsky.social argues. Preventing the next pandemic requires global investments in local, frontline monitoring rather than high-tech laboratories & top-down response frameworks.
We must prevent the next pandemic, not build perfect conditions for it (commentary)
In recent weeks, two outbreaks captured international attention: a hantavirus cluster linked to a cruise ship and an escalating outbreak of Bundibugyo ebolavirus in Central and Eastern Africa. How…
mongabay.cc
“While many of the city’s raccoons are healthy, some are infected with rabies, a deadly virus that attacks the central nervous system… This year [NYC’s health department] has already logged two rabid raccoons in areas of Brooklyn where it has never seen them before: Midwood and Sheepshead Bay”
Keeping an Eye Out for Rabid Raccoons
nytimes.com
The global trade in live wild animals continues to create conditions that can fuel the emergence and spread of zoonotic diseases and future pandemics. 🌏 More in a new white paper co-authored by WCS: newsroom.wcs.org/News-Release...
STATEMENT: We now have confirmed infestations of the New World screwworm parasite in cattle, a goat, and a dog in the United States. We must stop illegal and unregulated cattle movement through Central America and Mexico. bit.ly/4vcREY4 🌎
Screwworm Fight Will Fail Unless Governments Shut Down Illegal Cattle Trafficking
New York, June 10, 2026 – Following confirmation by USDA of New World screwworm infestations in cattle, a goat, and a dog in the United States, the following statement was released by Dr. Jeremy Radac...
bit.ly
Flesh-eating screwworm has reached the US—a comeback driven by organized crime, writes @cnn.com. We need governments to shut down illegal cattle ranching, says WCS’s Jeremy Radachowsky. 🌎 Read more: www.cnn.com/2026/06/11/a...
Flesh-eating screwworm has reached the US — a comeback driven by organized crime | CNN
When the US Department of Agriculture reported last week that it detected a case of New World screwworm in a Texas calf, ecologist Jeremy Radachowsky was not surprised.
cnn.com
The Ebola outbreak in the DRC is still growing rapidly. There are now 635 confirmed cases including 127 deaths. That's 37 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, all of them from Ituri province. insp.cd/sitrep-n26-m...
In the first weeks after the outbreak was announced it was quite hard to follow the numbers, both because suspect cases were accumulating with little testing and because it kept shifting who was putting out what numbers. Now we seem to have settled into a pattern with these situation reports.
Knicks fans burning sage outside MSG ahead of Game 4 to purge the bad luck left behind from Trump’s attendance
Knicks fans burning sage outside MSG ahead of Game 4 after Trump visit
‘It felt so dark yesterday, I was like, this is not the Garden that I know,’ the fan said
trib.al
Update of the Ebola virus disease outbreak in DRC & Uganda - 29 May - risk to EU/EEA - VERY LOW. -- DRC (data as of 28 May): 125 confirmed cases, 17 deaths 906 suspected cases, 223 deaths -- Uganda: 9 confirmed cases, 1 death 3 cases travel related. bit.ly/ECDCEbolaDRC #IDsky #EpiSky #Ebola
Ebola disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda
On 17 May 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola virus disease outbreak caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda a Public Health Emerge...
bit.ly
"The problem was that the people handling the intervention only looked at this as a health issue; they did not try to understand the cultural aspects of the [Ebola] epidemic," Anoko says. From 2015, for today 🧪🛟
Amy Maxmen, PhD@amymaxmen.bsky.social · 3mo agoYoung men torched an Ebola center bc they were mad they couldn't retrieve their friend's body for burial, AP reports. People get mad when their loved ones are disappeared. If that's not taken seriously, the whole response will go south. My piece from 2015 www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/ar...
First confirmed #Ebola Bundibugyo case now in South Kivu Province in the city of Bukavu, a 28-year person who died before diagnosis was confirmed. (But as a suspected case they received a safe burial.) Announcement from the rebel alliance that controls that part of DRC below:
How will populations across the world change in the 21st century? 🔧 Explore for yourself with our new interactive tool!
For over two decades, scientists researched the Bolivian "ghost dog," one of the world's least-known canids. The study found that this elusive animal lives primarily in protected areas and Indigenous territories within the Amazon, which are vital for its survival. Learn more!
Study gathers over 4,000 photos to find Bolivia’s rarest Amazonian dog
Images obtained over a two-decade study suggest that a mysterious dog native to the Bolivian Amazon could be more abundant than previously believed.
mongabay.cc
Travel bans do not stop outbreaks. We saw this during #COVID19, #mpox, #Influenza and the 2014 #Ebola outbreak. This fuels stigma, disrupts aid and public health response, and hurt communities while doing little to prevent spread.
Trump just stole $1.8B. He’s going to give it to his business, his kids, and people like Flynn, Eastman, Giuliani, and the Oath Keepers. He’s doing this without court approval or Congress. This is a crime, but there’s no one to prosecute it because the DoJ is in on it.
Justin Baragona@justinbaragona.bsky.social · 3mo agoAnd there it is, folks. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/05...
virological.org/t/initial-ge...
Initial genomes from May 2026 Bundibugyo Virus Disease Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda
Initial genomes from May 2026 Bundibugyo Virus Disease Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, reveal a new spillover event Context On 15 May 2026, the Ministry of Public Health, ...
virological.org
I’m gonna post this video every day so we NEVER FORGET what Donald Trump did to the USA on Jan 6th
🚨Epidemic of Ebola virus Disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda determined a public health emergency of international concern. www.who.int/news/item/17...
Epidemic of Ebola Disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda determined a public health emergency of international concern
Pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 12 - Determination of a public health emergency of international concern, including a pandemic emergency of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), the Di...
who.int
A year ago I warned what would happen if the US tore down our disease detection system around the world With Hantavirus & Ebola we are seeing VERY clearly what we’ve lost And why it matters Read my @theatlantic.com piece from last year outlining what happened www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Diseases Are Coming
Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn government tear will have lasting effects on global health.
theatlantic.com
The climate crisis is a health crisis. New recommendations from the WHO Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health call for urgent, practical action to protect people, strengthen health systems, and accelerate climate resilience across Europe and beyond. www.who.int/docs/librari...
The US government is working to extricate some Americans who had potentially problematic exposures to suspected #Ebola #Bundibugyo in DRC. But it won’t talk about it. When I and other journalists asked during a #CDC press conference, we got no answers. www.statnews.com/2026/05/17/i...
In Ebola outbreak, a number of Americans in the Congo believed to have had exposure to suspected cases
A number of Americans who are in the Congo are believed to have had exposure to suspected cases in the country’s latest Ebola outbreak, sources have told STAT.
statnews.com
Essential reading to better frame action ✊
Philipp Markolin@philippmarkolin.eurosky.social · 3mo agoNew deep dive from me into the anti-science movement, it's structure, tactics, and impact on science and society. Some data analysis, unique testimonies, new infographics and also a first attempt at outlining broadly-agreed upon actions how to fight back. 1/ open.substack.com/pub/protagon...
We have the scientific understanding to reduce pandemic spillover risk—by protecting ecosystems, regulating wildlife trade, and improving how livestock and people interact with nature. The challenge now is political will and sustained investment, says WCS’s @cwalzer.bsky.social. bit.ly/3OKdjqQ 🌎
Global Health Experts Urge Urgent Action to Prevent Future Pandemics Where They Begin
[Above photo: In partnership with local governments across Central Africa, WCS set up an early warning system for Ebola, working with traditional hunters, forest communities, and rangers to raise awar...
bit.ly
Ghana’s president John Mahama eloquently outlines the critical importance of #OneHealth for Ghana, Africa, and the global community in general at the #OneHealthSummit in Lyon
President Emmanuel Macron strongly affirms France’s commitment to multilateralism, science, and #OneHealth at the #WorldHealthSummit in Lyon 🙌 @emmanuelmacronreal.bsky.social @prezode.bsky.social
