Absolutely extraordinary work from Hui Gao, John Briggs and co @mpibiochem.bsky.social on the structure of the influenza matrix protein in situ, particularly in filamentous virions. It's beautiful, and answers questions I've been wondering about for twenty years www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Why do influenza viruses make ludicrously long filamentous virions? Probably lots of reasons, but in a new study Lu Liu et al. provide evidence for an appealing hypothesis: filaments are more stable in acidic solutions and hence survive for longer in aerosols www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I've built some initial Nextstrain phylogenies of the Andes Hantavirus variant, which include the sequence generated by HUG & UniZurich, Switzerland. Please interpret with caution. By segment: S: nextstrain.org/groups/hodcr... M: nextstrain.org/groups/hodcr... L: nextstrain.org/groups/hodcr...

🧠🦠 New #ESWIAirborne podcast episode out now! How do viruses move from environmental spillover to the brain—and what can this tell us about future #PandemicPreparedness? 🎧 Listen now: eswi.org/activities/p...

From Spillover to the Brain: Understanding Zoonotic Viruses Across the Life Cycle of Infection | ESWI

Our guests are early career scientists active in opposite ends of the infection spectrum: one scientist is a virus hunter, tracking viruses in urban environments, while the other investigates how viru...

eswi.org

For a plain-language overview of our work, see this lay summary courtesy of Kudos: www.growkudos.com/publications...

Shapeshifting spike proteins help coronaviruses infect whales and dolphins

Coronaviruses use spike proteins to enter cells. This study shows these spikes can change shape, helping the viruses adapt to new hosts, including whales and dolphins. Understanding this flexibility may help predict and prevent future cross-species infections.

growkudos.com

Had a blast in participating in this podcast about understanding zoonotic viruses across the life cycle of infection. 👇 ESWI Airborne: Shaping the Future of Respiratory Virus Research eswi.org/activities/p...

ESWI Airborne: Shaping the Future of Respiratory Virus Research | ESWI

Tune in to the new ESWI podcast podcast series featuring Early Career Scientist featuring researchers who will help shape the next decades of influenza and respiratory virus research.

eswi.org

The Orange Cat Brain Atlas is here. 🧠🐈 Today, we published the first comprehensive cellular map of the orange cat brain. The new atlas reveals a single, specialized neuron responsible for behaviors like staring at walls, knocking objects off tables, and the 3am "zoomies."

Lab Leakers: "SARS-CoV-2 can't infect bats, so it must have been made in a lab". Science: "Let's do the experiment". SARS-CoV-2 behaves exactly like one would expect in a reservoir species - low-level infection, no overt disease, etc. Elegant study from Sato Lab: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Just two weeks left to apply to the IGNITION PhD Programme! We’re offering fully funded PhD positions. Join our team @humantechnopole.bsky.social to use cutting-edge human stem cell models to study immune mediated neurodegeneration. For more info check out: ignition-consortium.eu Please share 🙏

🧠🦠Excited to share our latest work on non-polio enteroviruses (NPEVs) and their impact on the brain. #Enteroviruses #Neuroscience #Virology #Neurovirology #InfectiousDiseases www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...

Non-polio enterovirus infection and electrophysiological changes in human iPSC-derived neural networks

Our results demonstrate that neurotropic NPEVs lead to disruption of spontaneous neural activity in a virus-specific manner, which does not correlate with their replication efficiency.

thelancet.com

Non-polio enterovirus infection and electrophysiological changes in human iPSC-derived neural networks Work led by @lisabauervirus.bsky.social and our tiny contribution with our former Erasmus+ student, Auriane. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Non-polio enterovirus infection and electrophysiological changes in human iPSC-derived neural networks

The non-polio enteroviruses (NPEV) enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) and enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) are highly prevalent and considered pathogens of increasing h…

sciencedirect.com

Out Now! Genomic features associated with sustained mammalian transmission of avian influenza A viruses #MicroSky

Genomic features associated with sustained mammalian transmission of avian influenza A viruses

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 27 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-025-02257-4Reduced GC-related content in the influenza A virus genome may be a necessary condition for sustained mammalian transmission and should be included in risk assessment tools for pandemic influenza.

go.nature.com

Beautiful work from @efodor.bsky.social and Jonathan Grimes' labs - the first full structure of the influenza A virus NEP protein, and a clear indication that its role in viral replication is more nuanced that first thought www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Regulatory hotspot on the influenza A virus polymerase revealed through the structure of the NEP-polymerase complex

Structural studies reveal how influenza virus switches between making new RNA genomes and exporting them from the host nucleus.

science.org

First evidence in Europe of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 infection in a dairy cow. Antibodies against H5N1 detected in a cow with mastitis and respiratory signs on a Dutch dairy farm at the end of December. A cat on that farm had died from H5N1. www.tweedekamer.nl/downloads/do...

However, highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 no longer occurs just in birds. Worldwide, nearly 100 species of mammals have been found positive, including farmed maammals like cows, pigs and minks, and wild mammals like seals, sea lions, foxes and skunks. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Evolution, spread and impact of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza A viruses - Nature Reviews Microbiology

In this Review, Fouchier and colleagues explore the evolution, spread and zoonotic risks of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza viruses. They highlight recent unusual outbreaks, discuss future prepar...

nature.com

Second, it raises the question whether national governments should start systematic avian influenza in mammals. Currently, this is only performed in birds.

This first probable case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a dairy cow in Europe raises two points. First, it suggests that virus incursion is possible in the Dutch housing system, which differs from that in the southern U.S., where cows were first infectted. www.science.org/content/arti...

Bird flu antibodies found in cow in the Netherlands, a first outside of U.S.

Dead cat led to discovery, but officials stress no further spread of H5N1 has been detected

science.org

I am super happy to share this paper in its final form. We used FIB milling to "dig in to" cell lines and mouse brains infected with tick-borne flaviviruses, followed by cryo-ET to study the virus replication. It's open access, so have a look! #virology #teamtomo www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cryo-electron tomography reveals coupled flavivirus replication, budding and maturation - Nature Communications

In this study, Dahmane et al use a method called cryo-electron tomography to uncover new details of how tick-borne flaviviruses transform cells into virus factories.

nature.com

*ATgliaNet Symposium 2026* 📅 March 20th, 2026, 9:30 - 18:00 📍 Location: Center for Brain Research, Spitalgasse 4, Vienna Keynote speaker Prof. Leda Dimou (University of Ulm) Website for registration and abstract submission (until February 13th): hirnforschung.meduniwien.ac.at/ueber-uns/ev...

#H5N1 : An infected herd was recently detected in Wisconsin, and genome sequencing indicates that this is yet another spillover event, making it the fourth detected one. How do these spillovers happen and why are they restricted, so far, to the US? www.aphis.usda.gov/news/agency-...

BBC News - Drones detect deadly virus in Arctic whales' breath www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... (it is, in case you're wondering, cetacean morbillivirus)

Drones detect deadly virus in Arctic whales' breath

Whale breath collected by drones is giving clues to the health of wild humpbacks and other whales.

bbc.co.uk

Woche 2 der Grippewelle in Österreich: Über 100 Influenzafälle 📈 im #Sentinelsystem #ZentrumVirologie Virus Subtypverteilung verschiebt sich weiter Richtung H3N2 (80% der Influenza-Proben) Anstieg der Influenza-Hospitalisierungen (SARI Dashboard) Wenn ihr Symptome habt, bleibt bitte zu Hause

See also the comment by Jessica Belser (@jessbelser.bsky.social): "A pandemic toolbox for clade 2.3.4.4b A(H5N1) influenza virus risk assessment": www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

A pandemic toolbox for clade 2.3.4.4b A(H5N1) influenza virus risk assessment

Since 1997, more than 1000 cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) have been reported in humans.1 During this time, A(H5N1) viruses have evolved into dozens of clades, showing ever-expandin...

thelancet.com

Current H5N1 avian influenza viruses replicate better in human respiratory tissues than a historic one, warranting "the urgency to prevent cross-species transmission to humans by controlling spillover events to mammals and limiting viral spread in farmed mammals." www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Plus linked comment A pandemic toolbox for clade 2.3.4.4b A(#H5N1) #influenza virus risk assessment www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... #IDSky #ClinMicro #ViroSky #OpenAccess #OA

New research article Attachment and replication of clade 2.3.4.4b #influenza A (#H5N1) viruses in human respiratory epithelium: an in-vitro study www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... #IDSky #ClinMicro #ViroSky #OpenAccess #OA

Check out the new publication of Viruses like it 🍬🍭! @lisabauervirus.bsky.social and @debbyvanriel.bsky.social investigated the clade 2.3.4.4b A(H5N1) influenza virus attachment and replication in human respiratory epithelium! Congratulation to all involved!

Lisa Bauer@lisabauervirus.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Excited to share that our mansucript is finally published! Check it out here: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Have you ever wondered how it is possible that systemically infected plants produce (a certain percentage of) healthy progeny? 💚 Check out the first preprint of the @incavirus.bsky.social lab and first preprint of my postdoc! 🍀 We'd be very happy about feedback and discussions!

Marco Incarbone@incavirus.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Preprint alert! It is my great pleasure to announce the first manuscript from the lab, a story that started @gmivienna.bsky.social and was mainly accomplished by the intrepid @gesahoffmann.bsky.social at @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social. A brief thread with our findings www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

How does fever work? Our new Science paper shows how elevated body temperature can protect against severe influenza and that avian-origin viruses escape this defence. This is likely one reason why bird flus and some pandemic influenzas can be so severe.🧵 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Avian-origin influenza A viruses tolerate elevated pyrexic temperatures in mammals

Host body temperature can define a virus’s replicative profile—influenza A viruses (IAVs) adapted to 40° to 42°C in birds are less temperature sensitive in vitro compared with human isolates adapted t...

science.org