Chikungunya may not be a household name, but this mosquito-borne viral infection has become a significant concern for travellers to some destinations. The disease, whose name derives from the Kimakonde (a language of Southern Tanzania) word meaning ‘that which bends up’ due to the severe joint pain it causes, has spread across the globe in …
This blog post was reviewed and updated in January 2025. Marburg virus belongs to the filovirus family, along with Ebola. It can cause Marburg virus disease, a haemorrhagic fever, which can damage blood vessels and cause bleeding, and its presentation …
The UK-PHRST is an innovative partnership between the UK Health Security Agency and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, funded with UK aid by the UK Department of Health and Social Care
The UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST) was created five years ago after the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-16 to support Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) to prepare for and respond to public health outbreaks. In those …
Global health is focused on improving health and achieving health equity for all people worldwide – meaning working towards the absence of avoidable, unfair, or remediable differences among groups of people. Many health issues and concerns transcend national boundaries and require collaboration between countries to address them and in this blog we explain the role …
Images show finished hospital lab in Sierra Leone (top) and the refurbishment process (below) In this blog PHE's Paul Johnstone explains the organisation's involvement in Sierra Leone, from the West African Ebola epidemic to the opening a new hospital laboratory …
I recently spoke to delegates at PHE’s national conference to argue that there has never been a better time to ensure ‘health’ features in every nation’s plans to reduce the impact of disasters. You might feel that this goes without …
“A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving” [Lao Tzu] A few weeks ago, I was asked to give a talk to a group of clinical fellows undertaking work placements at various national organisations including …
Today is World Humanitarian Day (19 August), a day to celebrate those who have dedicated their lives to promoting human welfare. August 19 was selected to commemorate the 2003 bombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad, and World Humanitarian Day …
This week we published our Capability Statement which outlines how Public Health England can help low and middle income countries strengthen their public health capacity and respond to outbreaks and emergencies. Of course, in a perfect world, all countries would …
