Constant readers: Well, the bug finally got me, or one of its close cousins did. I’ve been on the road almost nonstop, and after a book event at University of Wisconsin last week, was felled by a violent bout of foodborne illness that was almost certainly staph — not MRSA, but the related strain of staph that causes very rapid food poisoning. (And, umm, thorough. Ick.) So I’ve been out of commission both physically and mentally. And on a plane again tonight. Back soon in both ways, promise.
But there’s important sad news today that I want you all to know about. Revere, the peerless author of the marvelous public health blog Effect Measure, is bowing out of the blogosphere. For more than 5 years now, Revere (a collective voice of an unknown number of public health experts —for simplicity, let’s say “he”) has been a reliable, thoughtful, expert, humorous and deeply knowledgeable guide to the intricacies of public health and public health politics. He has taken a particular interest in the possibility of pandemic flu and has been the unofficial leader of the loosely knit but fiercely loyal group of bloggers and crowdsourcers who call themselves Flublogia. And though few would admit it, Revere’s posts have been consistent agenda-setters in newsrooms all across the planet; insiders knew that, if Revere said something, it would start showing up in newspapers and on wires about 12 hours later.
If you are a Revere reader and missed this news, get over there and leave a note in the quickly lengthening comment string. If you never made the blog’s acquaintance, now would not be too soon.