Episode 79 - Antonia Genath & Linda Adamíková - Learning In The Field: 7 Weeks In South Sudan

What happens when field epidemiology moves beyond the desk?

To mark World Field Epidemiology Day, Antonia Genath and Linda Adamíková share their experience of a seven-week deployment to South Sudan, where they supported Ebola preparedness and surveillance activities.

They discuss working in a fragile health system, strengthening surveillance, supporting contact-tracing preparedness and collaborating with local colleagues in Juba and Yambio, close to the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

They also reflect on what the deployment taught them, both professionally and personally, and why getting outside the “European surveillance bubble” can change the way you think about epidemiology.

The deployment was organised and funded by the EU Health Task Force in collaboration with the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), and thanks to the financial support from Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) of the European Commission.

Linda and Antonia are fellows in the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET) and the German Postgraduate Training for Applied Epidemiology (PAE). During their two-year fellowships, they are based at Germany’s national public health institute, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), where they contribute to projects and routine activities in infectious disease epidemiology.

Check the links below to learn more about:

🔗 ECDC Fellowship Programme (EPIET/EUPHEM)

🔗 Ebola disease page

🔗 Information on the current Ebola outbreak in DRC

🔗 More about the EU Health Task Force