Ian M Mackay, PhD (he/him)

This account is now mainly for lurking.
X toxicity and anger are a suckful vibe.
Find me on BlueSky, Threads, Mastodon, LinkedIn.

Facts exist.

🦠🤧🧬📑🧀🦟

[Ian M Mackay, PhD (he/him) @MackayIM]

Version Hantavirus infographic #13 [13 cases as well].
A new @news.abc.net.au story hints that quarantine (at least in Aus) has been based on the disembarkation date (completed May 11). I've added that in as an orange-shaded box.
Anything unclear?

[Woofers @NotWoofers]

Interesting disparity in targeting between the Russians and Ukrainians this morning.

The Ukrainians hit oil infrastructure, the Russians hit solar infrastructure.

[Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @HelenBranswell]

Such an important point. I am inundated daily by emails from PR firms rep’ing people who want into the coverage of an issue. When I look up their bona fides, most have never published in journals on the topic they want to opine about. Hard pass.

[Ian M Mackay, PhD (he/him) @MackayIM]

@MelissaSweetDr But dovwe know if it will be more than a supermarket? Less than a nuclear powerplant? We must have some ways to describe it that are close enough, right?

[Melissa Sweet @MelissaSweetDr]

How much water and power will AI data centres use in Australia? Ironically, we don’t have the data to know https://t.co/EJ5nQNPVpu

[Ian M Mackay, PhD (he/him) @MackayIM]

@hhsax @MarionKoopmans True

[Ian M Mackay, PhD (he/him) @MackayIM]

@stanvanpelt @MarionKoopmans Quality expertise is also hugely important, but overlooked, for lab related issues of all kinds. They know where to look.

[Ian M Mackay, PhD (he/him) @MackayIM]

@MarionKoopmans A formidable scholar.

[Ministère de la Communication et Médias/RDC @Com_mediasRDC]

🚨 Ebola RDC – Situation au 2 juin 2026

363 cas confirmés (+19 en 24h)
62 décès confirmés
206 patients hospitalisés ou en isolement
6 guéris
Taux de létalité : 17,1 %
45,5 % des contacts suivis

📍 25 zones de santé touchées dans trois provinces :

Ituri : 341 cas, 48 décès
Nord-Kivu : 19 cas, 13 décès
Sud-Kivu : 3 cas, 1 décès

⚠️ L’Ituri reste l’épicentre de l’épidémie, avec l’apparition d’une nouvelle zone touchée : Rimba.

🔎 Les principaux foyers demeurent Bunia, Rwampara et Mongbwalu, tandis que les équipes de riposte poursuivent la surveillance, le suivi des contacts et la prise en charge des malades.

📞 En cas de symptômes ou de suspicion, appelez gratuitement le 151.

[Drew Comments @sjs856]

So one minute it was a gain of function virus from a Wuhan lab, next minute there never was a pathogen and viruses don’t exist.

And you wonder why nobody trusts uneducated blue checks for medical science info 😂😂😂

[Australian Dept of Health, Disability and Ageing @healthgovau]

Getting all recommended vaccines on time gives children the best protection against serious diseases.

All routine childhood vaccines on the National Immunisation Program schedule are free for eligible children in Australia.

Find resources at 💻 https://t.co/nCtX6ldkye

[Reuters @Reuters]

Ebola survivor Baraka Bulambula returned to work at a hospital in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, offering a rare glimmer of hope as the country battles a growing outbreak of the deadly virus https://t.co/CjaMc2M5zh

[Ian M Mackay, PhD (he/him) @MackayIM]

Just to say the obvious out loud, *something* caused those 'other' fevers. Fever doesn't happen for no reason. Better lab capability for all infectious disease detection is one early step for better care. A government that funds and then acts on that, is an earlier one.

[Amesh Adalja @AmeshAA]

"’They have been cleared out and have either other diseases or have just had fever and nothing else’..
A suspected case includes anyone who is picked up by surveillance or who presents with symptoms at a health centre” https://t.co/G7d2zq0CZI

[Ministry of Health- Uganda @MinofHealthUG]

Current update on #Ebola in #Uganda
The 6 new cases were confirmed among contacts to confirmed cases.

#MOHatWork | #FightEbolaUG26

[Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @HelenBranswell]

Even with a case count that was revised down with the testing of samples from suspected cases, this #Ebola outbreak is already huge. DRC reports that as of 6/1, there were 633 confirmed & suspected cases. 23 new positives were recorded yesterday. https://t.co/YlkeTKKHuZ

[Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @HelenBranswell]

The main claim — that the US recommends that all kids are vaccinated against many more pathogens than children in peer nations is not true. I did an analysis of 37 other countries. The US is not an outlier. https://t.co/xIxtTJCJAR

[Ian M Mackay, PhD (he/him) @MackayIM]

New graph of positives in the previous 24-hour period, from INSP SitReps
The last day we had <10 new cases was the 22MAY.
I think, despite some noise about the slashing of figures a few days ago being great news, it would be dangerous to turn away from this outbreak for some time

[Ian M Mackay, PhD (he/him) @MackayIM]

"WHO's previous figures had also listed 223 deaths suspected of being due to Ebola virus but its new figures no longer include that category"

"Lindmeier suggested the number had been very uncertain, since it included "people who died a while ago"
https://t.co/BTfaGtxBZD

[Ian M Mackay, PhD (he/him) @MackayIM]

@SustainKohala Oh. They will provide instructions for use and training to purchasers, for certain. Just having nothing in public is annoying

[Ian M Mackay, PhD (he/him) @MackayIM]

One PCR test in the DRC labs is a rapid test from KH Medical in South Korea, relying on the RADIONE extraction & amplification device (1 or 4-sample versions; 60min to result). It uses a range of their kits.
🧬 https://t.co/yYRQXybTRt
🧬 https://t.co/lqi05rga0F

[Ian M Mackay, PhD (he/him) @MackayIM]

General numbers are below..

[Ian M Mackay, PhD (he/him) @MackayIM]

SitRep #18 from INSP, DRC
-all samples collected were analysed! Nice work.
23 (30.3%) were positive.
https://t.co/zD5bmxaS4x

[Ian M Mackay, PhD (he/him) @MackayIM]

With the *cumulative* numbers for suspected #Bundibugyo virus disease samples coming into the lab for testing, samples analysed and testing positive seemingly no longer reported in these SitReps - just the daily results - the lab data look like this.