Jaap van Dissel

Jaap Tamino van Dissel (born 29 April 1957 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch virologist and infectiologist.

Van Dissel is director of the Centrum Infectieziektebestrijding (CIb) of the Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). He is also professor at the Leiden University with specialization Internal Medicine, in particular infectious diseases.

In 2020, Jaap van Dissel made frequent headlines as an infectious disease control expert and as chairman of the Outbreak Management Team following the corona crisis - the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands - SARS-CoV-2 causing the contagious respiratory disease COVID-19. Partly on his advice, measures were taken by the Rutte III cabinet for the public health to prevent the spread of this virus disease, including the “intelligent lockdown”. As a speaker at several government press conferences, he explained the background to these measures.