Imagine that - a novel, highly divergent, betacoronavirus with a weird-looking* furin cleavage site popped right out of a bat butt 🦇. You gotta wonder 🤔. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

journals.plos.org/digitalhealt... Congratulations to @rahilryder.bsky.social @jelder099.bsky.social and Team!! Great work!!!

The SARS-CoV-2 Integrated Genomic Epidemiology Database (IGED): Linking viral genomes with patient-level metadata to advance statewide genomic surveillance in California

Author summary In California, the COVID‑19 pandemic generated an unprecedented volume of anonymized viral genomic data, creating a critical need to link sequencing results with patient information for...

journals.plos.org

I hadn't seen this before. This is pretty remarkable. Earth and Moon in one NASA photo. ht @astrokatie.com

Really excited to be able to share our latest preprint, describing how during its evolution in cattle, H5N1 has got better at using a type of alternative receptor that's abundant in cows, but not found in humans and birds. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Someone suggested BA.3.2 might preferentially infect kids. I think they're right. Ages of SARS-2 sequences since Dec 1 in Ireland: non-BA.3.2 6/66 (9.1%) age 0-19, (0/1 hospital tests) BA.3.2 43/91 (47.3%) age 0-19 (1/3 hospital tests) 1/4

people used to say she’s the future of the @nwslsoccer.com. Welcome to the future.

Go #YETI!! #NWSL

NWSL@nwslsoccer.com · 6mo ago

Laura Harvey sitting on a cooler... We are SO back.

Congrats to @rahilryder.bsky.social J Bell, J Elder, E Smith, et al!! Genomic and epidemiologic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 persistent infections in California, January 2021 - July 2023 journals.plos.org/plospathogen... @plos.org

Genomic and epidemiologic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 persistent infections in California, January 2021 - July 2023

Author summary Genomic surveillance has been used to monitor the evolution and spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants throughout the pandemic. When a new variant emerges, it is often due to the accumulation of...

journals.plos.org

🔊🔊🔊Reviews for the preprint Genomic and epidemiologic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 persistent infections in California, January 2021 - July 2023 are out! rrid.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/afgxepb7...

Reviews of

Reviewers: S Bradfute (University of New Mexico) | 📗📗📗📗◻️ • M Johnson (University of Missouri) | 📘📘📘📘📘

rrid.mitpress.mit.edu

RFK Jr. is objectively pro-disease, pro-illness and pro-child death.

RFK Jr.-Backed Vaccine Panel Advises Against MMRV Vaccine for Young Children

New members of a key committee tweak routine childhood vaccine guidance as some states and insurers go their own way.

wsj.com

My first academic article was on the dictatorship of Uzbekistan inventing a group called "Akromiya" that did not really exist but which they used to arrest anyone with whom they disagreed under the pretext of "terrorism". Just bringing this up for no reason whatsoever!

Savannah DeMelo opened up a few months ago about managing Graves’ Disease and Hyperthyroidism after having to leave a game due to chest tightness in March. Genuinely hoping that knowledge helps those aiding her tonight.

Absolutely the right decision. No need to force players to continue after that, can tell so many are, understandably, shaken. Sending all the positive vibes and well wishes to Savannah DeMelo.

www.frontiersin.org/journals/pub...

Frontiers | SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance using rapid point of care COVID-19 antigen tests at public test sites in California

California’s SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance program (California COVIDNet) developed whole genomic sequencing (WGS) capability from positive COVID-19 antigen...

frontiersin.org

You might be wondering why we haven't updated outbreak.info for months. Well, the reason is that GISAID cut our access in January - as they did others. Without telling us. After a ♾️ back and forth, that is now permanent. More on that soon - and why GISAID should not be trusted with critical data.

The effects of Covid in pregnancy are devastating and preventable by vaccination; now we have strong data from Penn Medicine that vaccines protect children and adolescents from long Covid

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · last yr.

Breaking news: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is ending his agency's recommendation that healthy pregnant women and healthy children receive the coronavirus vaccine.

ACOG is deeply disappointed by HHS’s move to drop COVID-19 vaccine recommendations in pregnancy. The science is clear: COVID-19 remains dangerous in pregnancy and vaccination protects both patients and newborns. The vaccine is safe and protects families. Read our full statement: buff.ly/OGue7sO

…this preprint, along with two other phenomenal papers from an all-star cast of scientists, including @doudna-lab.bsky.social, @theottlab.bsky.social, @peacockflu.bsky.social, @davidlvbauer.bsky.social, @theo.io, & others I couldn’t find tags for… www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 2/34

Pathogen genomics and metagenomics have been transformative to public health (outbreaks, AMR, vaccines). Challenges: data, funding, ethics, access. We need to stay committed to open science, collaboration & integration. Summary of a great workshop. nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/2910...

Accelerating the Use of Pathogen Genomics and Metagenomics in Public Health: Proceedings of a Workshop

Read online, download a free PDF, or order a copy in print.

nap.nationalacademies.org

Just like H5N1, SARS-CoV-2, and Ebola, mpox virus didn't come from a lab. In this case, it came from a squirrel. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

An animal source of mpox emerges — and it’s a squirrel

Researchers solve the mystery of a disease outbreak through long-term surveillance of wildlife in Africa.

nature.com

At Angel City FC, we stand in solidarity against harmful rhetoric that seeks to erase trans identities. We remain committed to supporting trans athletes and advocating for a future where all individuals can compete, play, and thrive as their authentic selves. #TransDayOfVisibility

Due to a weather delay, kickoff for tonight’s match between Chicago Stars FC and Racing Louisville FC will now begin at 5:00 PM CT. The match remains available on CBS Sports Network. Warmups will restart at 4:10 PM.

Do you remember BA.3—the weakling cousin of BA.1 & BA.2 that seemed to take the worst from each & had weaker ACE2 binding than even the ancestral Wuhan Virus? After three years, BA.3 is back. And it is transmitting. Who saw this coming? 1/13

JUST IN: Heavily Mutated SARS-CoV-2 BA.3 Variant Detected in South Africa with 57 Spike Mutations.

This is a red alert for US science, for new cures & treatments for diseases that afflict everyone in this country. This isn't "oh, it will blow over." Soon we will have reached the point of no return destroying what it has taken decades to build. WE NEED TO BE BANGING DOWN THE DOORS IN CONGRESS.

Dr. Becca@docbecca.bsky.social · 2y ago

If the block on the Federal Register isn’t removed in the next few months, I fear a majority of labs will close within a year. This small procedural wrench has the power to kill US science indefinitely, losing an entire generation of discovery and innovation.

There are two people in Congress-the chairs of the Senate & House Appropriations Committees-who have enormous power over the illegal impoundment of funds appropriated by Congress, which is sowing chaos across the US. They need to be relentlessly contacted at their offices, in person and by phone. 1/

Berkeley telling it like it is

Science.

Huge news about Point Reyes today.

NEW 🦠‼️ Several countries and reports have called for the creation of an Intergovernmental Panel on Pandemics. Over the last two years, we brought global health law experts together with IPCC and IPBES members, and mapped out a blueprint for its scope and governance. 🔓 papers.ssrn.com/abstract=508...