When he dons his mountain-climbing gear, Dr. Harold Pine becomes a willing ambassador for the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. The pediatric ear, nose, and throat surgeon—and tenured professor in otolaryngology—recently returned from the foot of Mount Everest, where he and his surgeon girlfriend helped provide medical care to inhabitants of the base camp on Nepal's Khumbu Glacier.

"An unexpected byproduct of the Covid-19 pandemic was an “infodemic” — a flood of information where misinformation, contradictory claims and politicized content complicates public-health communication efforts." - Assistant Professor Dr. Jarrel De Matas

Ebola expert Thomas Geisbert of The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, who helped develop Merck's Ervebo vaccine against the Zaire species of Ebola, discusses potential treatments, including the antiviral pill obeldesivir and an antibody cocktail called MBP134.

The 2007 outbreak in Bundibugyo killed at least 37 people but had been contained by the end of the year. A second outbreak of the Bundibugyo virus, also relatively small, came in 2012 in Congo’s northeast. Initial cases in those outbreaks were identified early, allowing for a quick public health response, according to Dr. Tom Ksiazek, a University of Texas Medical Branch virologist who directed the group within the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that first identified the Bundibugyo virus.

In his column for The Daily News, Dr. Samuel Mathis poses the question, "What if I told you that adding bananas to our smoothies may reduce the beneficial effects of this drink?"

Some Ebola outbreaks have had death rates approaching 50 percent, making it one of the world’s most feared infectious diseases, write Sealy Institute for Vaccine Sciences faculty members Drs. Megan Berman, a professor of internal medicine, and Richard Rupp, a professor of pediatrics, at UTMB.

Ajay Israni, M.D., division chief of nephrology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, is among four medical healthcare professionals appointed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to a chronic kidney disease task force to coordinate implementation of the state’s plan for prevention, early screening, diagnosis, and management of chronic kidney disease, and educate healthcare professionals.

UTMB psychologist Kim Gushanas talks about the risks of too much screen time for children and realistic ways for families to create healthier habits this summer.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is evaluating whether to trial the only approved Ebola vaccine, called Ervebo, which was first proven effective during the 2014–16 outbreak in West Africa. The vaccine is highly effective against Ebola Zaire, but it’s unclear how well it would work against Bundibugyo virus, said Thomas Geisbert, a virologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. "It's kind of a coin flip," he said.

"Ebola Zaire is the one that got all the attention, for very good reasons," said Susan McLellan, director of the biocontainment care unit at the University of Texas Medical Branch. The development of medical countermeasures, including monoclonal antibodies and vaccines, is less advanced for Bundibugyo, she said.