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Andrea Ammon (born 11 December 1958) is a German physician and the former director of the
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is an agency of the European Union (EU) whose mission is to strengthen Europe's defences against infectious diseases. It covers a wide spectrum of activities, such as: surveillance, e ...
(ECDC), a
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
(EU) agency strengthening Europe's defence against infectious disease. She advised the German government on the
SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1, the first identified strain of the SARS-related coronavirus. The first known cases occurred in November 2002, and the ...
and Influenza A virus subtype H2N2 outbreaks.


Early life and education

In 1996 Ammon completed her doctorate in medicine at the
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
, where she studied the quality of life for patients that have palliative therapy for metastatic liver disease.


Career

Ammon joined the
Robert Koch Institute The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is a German federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention. It is located in Berlin and Wernigerode. As an upper federal agency, it is subordinate to the Federa ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
in 1996. Between 2002 and 2005, she was Head of Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology. At the Robert Koch Institute, Ammon was responsible for the German national outbreak surveillance system, coordinating their response to
severe acute respiratory syndrome Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1, the first identified strain of the SARS-related coronavirus. The first known cases occurred in November 2002, and the sy ...
(SARS) and Influenza A virus subtype H2N2. As part of this effort, Ammon investigated in-flight transmission of SARS and found that it was uncommon; and only likely if infected people fly during symptomatic phases of their illness. In 2005, Ammon joined the
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is an agency of the European Union (EU) whose mission is to strengthen Europe's defences against infectious diseases. It covers a wide spectrum of activities, such as: surveillance, e ...
(ECDC), where she was appointed Head of Surveillance. She was one of the first employees at the ECDC, and has since been described as "instrumental" in establishing the surveillance strategy. The ECDC looks to standardise infection control across the European Union, ensuring consistent practise took place in the surveillance networks of member states. In this capacity she was responsible for the formation of The European Surveillance System (TESSy), a uniform, long-term data acquisition system for the European Union. TESSy launched in April 2008. Ammon was responsible for evaluating the European Dedicated Surveillance Networks (DSN), which included the EURO TB and EURO HIV networks, eventually incorporating them into the framework of the ECDC. In 2011 she was made deputy director of the Resource Management and Coordination unit. A few years later, she led the European Scientific Conference on Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology. As part of the conference, in the wake of the
Western African Ebola virus epidemic The 2013–2016 epidemic of Ebola virus disease, centered in West Africa, was the most widespread outbreak of the disease in history. It caused major loss of life and socioeconomic disruption in the region, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sie ...
, Ammon oversaw sessions on food-borne diseases, zoonotic viruses and globalisation. She succeeded Marc Sprenger as
Acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...
Director of the ECDC on 1 May 2015. She was subsequently appointed Director on 22 March 2017 and took office on 16 June 2017. In 2017 the ECDC and
WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...
announced that whilst cases of
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
were on the decline in
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, tuberculosis in relation to HIV was on the rise. During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Ammon was involved with the global response to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. On January 26, Ammon and the ECDC advised governments in the European Union to strengthen their healthcare capacity. Unfortunately, the ECDC had over-estimated the stocks of
personal protective equipment Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elect ...
and lab testing capacity in individual member states, resulting in considerable spread of coronavirus disease across Europe. She has since said that the extensive spread of coronavirus in Europe can be linked to the return of holidaymakers from skiing trips in early March. In early May, Ammon gave evidence before the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
on public health, and said that the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
was behind other European member states in their response to coronavirus disease. In an interview with ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' on May 20, 2020, Ammon emphasised that there was likely to be a second wave of
SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the Novel coronavirus, provisional nam ...
infections, “...the question is when and how big.” In the preparations for the Global Health Summit hosted by the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
and the G20 in May 2021, Ammon was a member of the event's High Level Scientific Panel.Global Health Summit: Panel of Scientific Experts
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
.


Selected publications

* * *


See also

* Zsuzsanna Jakab


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ammon, Andrea Living people German public health doctors 21st-century German women physicians 21st-century German physicians Coronavirus researchers Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni 21st-century German women scientists 1958 births Women public health doctors