Now online in EID: Household Transmission of Enterovirus D68, Washington and Oregon, United States, 2022–2024. doi.org/10.3201/eid3... We used data from the CASCADIA cohort in WA and OR, combining prospective household surveillance with viral sequencing. Some key findings:

Efforts are underway @uwmedicine.bsky.social to streamline Western Blot genital herpes test interpretation. Scientific American's @sciam.bsky.social Lauren Schneider spoke with virus experts Alex Greninger & Pavitra Roychoudhury

Why we need better genital herpes tests

The best blood test for herpes is only available at a single lab. What would it take for that to change?

bit.ly

Happy to share our recent paper, now online in the Journal of Virological Methods: “BlotDx: A deep learning tool for Western blot-based diagnostics” 🔗 authors.elsevier.com/a/1moh5bm%7E... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

BlotDx: A deep learning tool for Western blot-based diagnostics

Western blot (WB) is the gold standard for herpes simplex virus (HSV-1/HSV-2) serology but requires manual interpretation by trained laboratory person…

sciencedirect.com

“[P]utting data into GISAID is like dropping it in a mail slot in an unmarked building,” says @colincarlson.bsky.social. “It’s wonderful that there’s so much cool stuff in that building. It would be great if we knew who owned it, or who paid for it, or what they plan to do with it.” #IDsky 🧪

Fresh conflicts erupt around giant database for flu and COVID-19 sequences

Critics say “autocratic” behavior by GISAID could hamper response to a future pandemic

science.org

On Oct 1, 2025, GISAID informed us that they had ended updates to the flat file of SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences and associated metadata that we had used to update Nextstrain analyses since Feb 2020. GISAID's stated rationale was that their "resources are limited". 1/5

Love this so much @hadley.nz hadley.github.io/genzplyr/

dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap

`genzplyr` is an alternative syntax for `dplyr` that replaces boring old function names with GenZ slang. Your data wrangling is about to hit different.

hadley.github.io

apple.news/AfbRCeaNOR_q...

First locally acquired U.S. cases of more severe mpox strain reported — CBS News

California health officials have reported two cases of a potentially more severe form of mpox that appear to be locally acquired.

apple.news

Helen Chu is one of the ousted #ACIP members. She spoke to me today about her grave concerns for future vaccination policy and vaccine access in the United States. www.statnews.com/2025/06/10/c...

Ousted CDC vaccine adviser says RFK Jr.'s message is clear: ‘Scientific expertise is no longer of use’

Terminated CDC vaccine adviser Helen Chu spoke with STAT about her fears for the future of vaccine policy

statnews.com

Absolutely thrilled to announce the launch of ARTIC2 - a £5.5M 5 year project funded by @wellcometrust.bsky.social to build on the ARTIC approach of low-cost, globally accessible genome sequencing for surveillance of outbreaks, epidemics and endemic diseases: www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/am...

Ambitious project to develop low-cost genome sequencing for pathogens known and unknown - University of Birmingham

Project will build on research that helped diagnostic labs to adopt sequencing capacity for COVID-19 and permit characterisation of future infectious threats

birmingham.ac.uk

The May 2025 supplemental issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases journal is now live: “Advances in Pathogen Genomics for Infectious Disease Surveillance, Control, and Prevention.” wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/articles...

1/ How has H5N1 affected this year’s flu season in Seattle? Despite ongoing outbreaks in birds & cattle nationally, we detected zero H5N1 cases in 675 influenza A-positive specimens tested at UW Medicine.

6/ Read more in our manuscript from the Greninger Lab at UW Virology : medrxiv.org/cgi/content/.... Many people contributed to this work, including @margaretgracemills.bsky.social, Ailyn Perez-Osorio, and @pavitrarc.bsky.social.

Validation of H5 influenza virus subtyping RT-qPCR assay and low prevalence of H5 detection in 2024-2025 influenza virus season

A sustained outbreak of H5N1 influenza virus among wild fowl and domestic livestock has caused more than 70 zoonotic infections in humans in the United States, including one death. The Centers for Dis...

medrxiv.org

I’m so tired of hearing Rubio & other rightwingers now claiming that if you’re on a green card you’re a ‘guest’ in this country. BS. You’re a lawful permanent resident. The clue is in the name. If someone is a permanent resident in your home, are they the same as the guests who come and go? Come on.

Happy to share our latest preprint describing clinical assay validation for RSV whole genome sequencing using a modified version of the ARTIC RSV panel doi.org/10.1101/2025... <thread> 1/

bioRxiv Genomics@biorxiv-genomic.bsky.social · 2y ago

Clinical performance evaluation of a tiling amplicon panel for whole genome sequencing of respiratory syncytial virus https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.26.634892v1

Excited to be involved in this study led by Helen Chu as part of the CDC's CHARM network tracking the spread of respiratory viruses across the US.

UW Medicine@uwmedicine.bsky.social · 2y ago

The 5-yr pandemic-preparedness project will trace how #flu, #COVID_19, #RSV and other respiratory viruses spread in communities, and catalog circulating strains. Dr. Helen Chu of @uwmedicine.bsky.social will lead the study. tinyurl.com/39tmkvyk

New names for Vermont snow plows 2024, selected by Vermont schoolchildren. Some selections... Skibidi Scooper No More Mr. Ice Guy The Snowy Pl-Owl Clearopathra Snoah Kahan Salt-O-Saurus vtrans.vermont.gov/name-a-plow