Episode 57 - Leonidas Alexakis - Health Task Force in Action - DRC Congo

ECDC: On Air

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

Science

5 • 3 Ratings

🗓️ 8 January 2025

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of ECDC on Air, we speak with Leonidas Alexakis, an expert in epidemic intelligence at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Leonidas shares insights from his recent deployment to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of the European Health Task Force. He discusses his role in supporting the response to the ongoing mpox outbreak, the challenges of working in a resource-limited setting, and the lessons learned from working alongside WHO and local health authorities. Tune in for a deeper understanding of international public health efforts and the complexities of responding to emerging disease outbreaks. Learn more about mpox here. For more information about ECDC in general visit ⁠⁠https://ecdc.europa.eu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠social media⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Transcript

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0:00.0	ECDC on air.
0:09.2	The podcast of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
0:13.7	Keeping up to date with European epidemiology.
0:19.6	Hello, welcome and thanks for tuning in to ECDC on air, the podcast of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
0:25.9	I'm your host Lee, recording from our headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden.
0:29.6	On today's episode, we're speaking with Leonidas Alexakis, expert in epidemic intelligence, here at ECDC,
0:36.1	and today we're talking about his recent deployment to the Democratic Republic of Congo and
0:41.3	working on the Mpox outbreak that's ongoing there.
1:02.7	Music So today we're sitting down with Leonidas Alexakis, expert in epidemic intelligence here at ECDC.
1:05.9	Leonidas, thank you for joining us.
1:07.6	Thank you so much, Lee.
1:09.0	So before we begin talking about the work that you were doing
1:11.9	in the DRC, could you tell us a little bit about your work here at ECDC and about yourself?
1:16.6	My name is Len Las Alixakis. I work here as an expert in epidemic intelligence, which is part of
1:22.1	the surveillance section. So my journey, my career started, it used to be a medical doctor in working with doctors without borders.
1:33.0	And then I started my work here.
1:36.3	So our work in Epidemic Intelligence constitute in early warning and threat assessment.
1:43.3	So the idea is that we try to identify potential threats to the EU population
1:48.7	and provide an assessment and then communicate this to our stakeholders,
1:54.1	which are mainly the member states, in order to take the appropriate actions.
1:59.9	Okay, so you recently were in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the DRC, as part of the European
2:06.0	Health Task Force.
	...

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