Dr. Kelly O.'s Avatar

Dr. Kelly O.

@drkfo

Chief Scientist for Next-Generation Sequencing & Bioinformatics at The Utah Public Health Laboratory ๐ŸŒŸ SEQUENCE ALL THE THINGS! ๐ŸŒŸ I oversee all the sequencing and data analysis for infectious disease pathogens for the state. All opinions are my own!

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08.07.2023
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Latest posts by Dr. Kelly O. @drkfo

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New Delhi metallo-ฮฒ-lactamase-producing Acinetobacter baumannii in the USA from October, 2013, to March, 2022: a retrospective molecular epidemiological analysis Most US carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) isolates harbour carbapenem-hydrolysing class D ฮฒ-lactamases. Other carbapenemases, such aโ€ฆ

Great collaboration between the CDC and state public health labs!!! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

14.11.2025 17:53 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Measles Case Confirmed in SLCo Measles Case Confirmed in Salt Lake County; Source of Infection Unknown

www.saltlakecounty.gov/health/news/...

14.11.2025 17:43 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Iโ€™m curious. If an outspoken atheist was to set up tables outside churches on Sunday and on campuses of Christian colleges with a sign that said โ€œGod doesnโ€™t exist, prove me wrong,โ€ would that person be hailed as a figure who was trying to engage in good faith debate and heal our divisions?

13.09.2025 14:37 ๐Ÿ‘ 573 ๐Ÿ” 126 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 25 ๐Ÿ“Œ 10
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I miss the old brand #CDC

28.08.2025 22:00 ๐Ÿ‘ 7031 ๐Ÿ” 1742 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 97 ๐Ÿ“Œ 72
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The C.D.C.โ€™s Vaccine Chief on Why Quitting Was His Only Option Podcast Episode ยท The Daily ยท 08/29/2025 ยท 29m

Going forward, what comes out of the CDC โ€œwill be a Frankenstein of science and ideologyโ€

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

29.08.2025 16:53 ๐Ÿ‘ 36 ๐Ÿ” 18 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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Opinion | The Public Health Disaster Everyone Saw Coming

Kennedy โ€œis trying to fully dismantle the nationโ€™s vaccination apparatus, regardless of what science says or what most people want. And less than a year into his tenure as health secretary, he is succeeding brilliantly.โ€ We are all at deep risk unless we push Congress to actually act. NOW.

29.08.2025 13:15 ๐Ÿ‘ 84 ๐Ÿ” 32 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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BREAKING: Big moment as CDC staff stage a mass walkout.

They have lined the street outside its HQ to greet and salute the four top officials who have resigned in protest at RFK Jrโ€™s attack on the agencyโ€™s science base.

(๐ŸŽฅ AP)

28.08.2025 19:41 ๐Ÿ‘ 10555 ๐Ÿ” 3400 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 168 ๐Ÿ“Œ 246
An image of a birthday cake with scientific doodles around it, 9 colourful candles, and the Pathoplexus logo in the middle, with the words 'Happy 1 year'

An image of a birthday cake with scientific doodles around it, 9 colourful candles, and the Pathoplexus logo in the middle, with the words 'Happy 1 year'

๐Ÿ—“ Pathoplexus turns ONE! ๐ŸŽ‚๐ŸŽ‰

In the past year weโ€™ve grown from 4 pathogens to a truly global, community-driven platform for transparent, equitable & impactful pathogen sequence sharing.
๐Ÿ“ฐ Read the full update: pathoplexus.org/news/2025-08...

1/10

27.08.2025 15:57 ๐Ÿ‘ 38 ๐Ÿ” 20 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
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Trump admin pulls nearly $62M in solar grants from Utah, leaving rural towns in the dark The Trump admin clawed back $62M in federal aid to bolster solar energy across Utah, derailing projects for rural towns, tribes and families.

Trump takes light

www.sltrib.com/news/environ...

25.08.2025 14:07 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 3 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Warning issued for possible measles exposure on NJ Transit, PATH trains A Hudson County resident who tested positive for measles used public transit while potentially infectious, health officials say.

โ€œNew Jersey health officials are issuing a warning about a possible measles exposure on NJ Transit and PATH trains.
A Hudson County resident who was diagnosed with measles used public transportation while potentially infectious, the New Jersey Department of Health announced Friday.โ€

24.08.2025 12:01 ๐Ÿ‘ 21 ๐Ÿ” 28 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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Former CDC Director William Foege: How public health can fight back in a time of dangerous nonsense โ€œKennedy would be less hazardous if he decided to do cardiac surgery. Then he would kill people only one at a time,โ€ writes former CDC Director William Foege.

www.statnews.com/2025/08/18/r...

19.08.2025 14:59 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

They're all cool with sexually assaulting children it appears

www.sltrib.com/news/politic...

02.08.2025 16:04 ๐Ÿ‘ 4 ๐Ÿ” 3 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Barbara McClintock portrait

Barbara McClintock portrait

๐Ÿงฌ๐ŸŒฝ Happy Transposon Day! ๐ŸŒฝ๐Ÿงฌ

Today we celebrate the birthday of Barbara McClintock - scientist extraordinaire and discoverer of jumping genes. Still the only woman to have an unshared Nobel Prize in the biomedical sciences #TransposonDay2025

16.06.2025 15:14 ๐Ÿ‘ 479 ๐Ÿ” 192 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5 ๐Ÿ“Œ 10

Weโ€™re honored to report that over 11 million showed up for todayโ€™s No Kings protest, and totals are still coming in. Justโ€ฆ wow. WOW ๐Ÿ˜ฎ! Thereโ€™s nothing more to say.

15.06.2025 01:20 ๐Ÿ‘ 21077 ๐Ÿ” 4418 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 547 ๐Ÿ“Œ 510

I once talked to Ice-T about skiing in the Delta customer service line in Salt Lake City.

14.06.2025 23:32 ๐Ÿ‘ 4 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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How Next-Generation Sequencing Is Revolutionizing Food Safetyย  - APHL Blog By Donna Campisano, specialist, Communications, APHL Last year, 113 people across 23 states were sickened with Salmonella Typhimurium after eating cucumbers. Another 61 people from 19 states developed...

A little shameless self-promotion. www.aphlblog.org/how-next-gen...

28.05.2025 19:53 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

NIH funding supporting the HMMER and Infernal software projects has been terminated. NIH states that our work, as well as all other federally funded research at Harvard, is of no benefit to the US.

22.05.2025 12:42 ๐Ÿ‘ 286 ๐Ÿ” 231 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 37 ๐Ÿ“Œ 47
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Contamination Chronicles: How Laboratory Scientists Cracked Three Unusual Food Safety Cases - APHL Blog By Donna Campisano, specialist, Communications, APHL What do raw milk, raw pet food and a drug-laced chicken sandwich have in common? They were all subjects of the โ€œContamination Chroniclesโ€ session a...

Check out some fun foodborne illness investigations! www.aphlblog.org/contaminatio...

19.05.2025 15:32 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Time to catch up on the past weekโ€™s news about science and medicine in the US. Whew. 1/10

01.05.2025 23:50 ๐Ÿ‘ 650 ๐Ÿ” 353 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 27 ๐Ÿ“Œ 89
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This weekโ€™s main story is about the budget and staffing cuts being made to public health agencies in the U.S. under RFK Jr.โ€™s leadership, how those cuts will impact all of us, and some foolproof ideas for what scientists can do in the absence of totally superfluous stuff like, yโ€™know, centrifuges.

28.04.2025 16:19 ๐Ÿ‘ 1991 ๐Ÿ” 569 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 69 ๐Ÿ“Œ 61
RFK Jr. & HHS: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
RFK Jr. & HHS: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) YouTube video by LastWeekTonight

๐Ÿ’ฃThe Carpet Bombing of HHS ๐Ÿ’ฅ

It's hard to describe how America's health agencies have been bombed and shelled in the past few months, but John Oliver is a good start. ๐Ÿงต

28.04.2025 18:52 ๐Ÿ‘ 610 ๐Ÿ” 158 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 9 ๐Ÿ“Œ 5
Picture of RFKJ in a dark suit and blue tie leaning back in an arm chair with both arms on the arm rests looking confidently back at the camera. Caption reads "Ask me why I combined HIV research...with occupational and environmental health."

Picture of RFKJ in a dark suit and blue tie leaning back in an arm chair with both arms on the arm rests looking confidently back at the camera. Caption reads "Ask me why I combined HIV research...with occupational and environmental health."

We agree that CDC needs to be more nimble and efficient. But CDC restructuring should be done by someone who understands the mission and respects science. RFKJ is not that person. He does not understand the work he is destroying and does not care to find out.

www.medpagetoday.com/special-repo...

28.03.2025 22:04 ๐Ÿ‘ 883 ๐Ÿ” 149 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 27 ๐Ÿ“Œ 10

Utah just banned fluoride in drinking water, undoing decades of science-based public health progress.
Time for a fluoride #factcheckfriday:

28.03.2025 18:15 ๐Ÿ‘ 769 ๐Ÿ” 200 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 53 ๐Ÿ“Œ 21

Those NAS worked great for almost 9 years. RIP!

29.03.2025 17:56 ๐Ÿ‘ 4 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

CDC leadership has not been included in decisions that affect the agency's future. Termination emails will go directly from HHS to CDC staff. The tone from Center directors today: โ€œsorry we don't know anything. Please tell us if you're RIF'd. We'll do a headcount Monday of those still standing".

28.03.2025 22:49 ๐Ÿ‘ 741 ๐Ÿ” 186 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 30 ๐Ÿ“Œ 16
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RFK Jr. announces big cuts to Department of Health and Human Services In all, the agency will cut 20,000 positions, half of them through layoffs.

The hits just keep coming! This in the same week as the cuts to state public health agencies.

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

27.03.2025 16:47 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Vaccine skeptic hired to head federal study of immunizations and autism A long-discredited researcher and vaccine skeptic will conduct a government study on whether vaccines cause autism.

RFK Jr puts an absolute crank with a history of retracted papers and license violations in charge of his โ€œno really vaccines do cause autismโ€ study.

David Geierโ€ฆ incredible, really. Nice job, Bill Cassidy!

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

25.03.2025 22:27 ๐Ÿ‘ 369 ๐Ÿ” 104 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 19 ๐Ÿ“Œ 2

I canโ€™t believe we just went through the worst pandemic of a generation and are now just going to ignore it for political reasons. As if COVID just disappeared and thereโ€™s no chances of another similar pandemic down the road ๐Ÿคฆ๐Ÿป๐Ÿ˜จ

25.03.2025 22:56 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 4 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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In <24 hours, Covid funding is DOGEd across HHS, CDC, NIH as if it and Long Covid didn't exist and there is no worry for future pandemics
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
www.science.org/content/arti...

25.03.2025 22:30 ๐Ÿ‘ 3235 ๐Ÿ” 1374 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 192 ๐Ÿ“Œ 144
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CDC is pulling back $11B in Covid funding sent to health departments across the U.S. โ€œNow that the pandemic is over, the grants and cooperative agreements are no longer necessary," federal health authorities wrote to funding recipients this week.

This is absolutely devastating! www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

25.03.2025 20:41 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0