In work led by Ben Pinksy, Grant Higerd-Rusli, Matthew Hernandez & @abraarkaran.bsky.social, in @thelancet.bsky.social, we describe the importance of testing a broader range of people for #H5N1 bird flu in order to check for potentially hidden spread & new routes of transmission t.co/yZeHRcUV65

After 5 years, 150k papers and 17 million genomes, here's what we learned about SARS-CoV-2 and viruses in general. It holds lessons for future pandemics - only if we listen. "We’re in a worse place in terms of pandemic prevention" @eddieholmes.bsky.social told me. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Four ways COVID changed virology: lessons from the most sequenced virus of all time

After 150,000 articles and 17 million genome sequences, what has science taught us about SARS-CoV-2?

nature.com

"I know how lethal Donald Trump’s assault on America’s outbreak preparedness could be. We are sure to regret it," warns @craigspencer.bsky.social @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

The Diseases Are Coming

Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn government tear will have lasting effects on global health.

theatlantic.com

NEW: As measles cases rise in Texas, pharmacies in some cities are running out of MMR vaccines. The surge in demand comes even as RFK Jr. and the CDC frame vaccination as a "personal" choice — my latest: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Texas cities run short of MMR vaccine as measles outbreak drives demand

Pharmacies are struggling with supplies as fatal outbreak expands and health secretary sows disinformation

theguardian.com

These unanticipated, abrupt & cruel funding cuts will cost lives Ebola outbreaks demand diligent & meticulous tracking of transmission chains Even small lapses can allow spread to escalate dramatically & become hidden in ways that can take months to regain a grip on

Stephanie Nolen@stephanienolen.bsky.social · last yr.

A leaked recording shows that American officials fear the spread of Ebola in Uganda and beyond, because of the Trump cuts in foreign aid www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/h...

A leaked recording shows that American officials fear the spread of Ebola in Uganda and beyond, because of the Trump cuts in foreign aid www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/h...

As Ebola Spreads in Uganda, Trump Aid Freeze Hinders Effort to Contain It, U.S. Officials Fear (Gift Article)

Two more people are reported dead from the disease, and dozens are in isolation, as the outbreak grows.

nytimes.com

Exactly - this study would be needless, wasteful & ridiculous, but, even more so, treacherous Given how this admin operates, there is a real risk it will pressure, doctor or falsify results to imply risks & links that are not real & then use that to undermine safe & proven vaccines

Gaia Vince@wanderinggaia.bsky.social · last yr.

And what would the control be, kids unethically denied vaccinations? What a joke. An autism link has been conclusively disproven. Raising doubts is anti science and deliberately harmful to public health

I only listed a few studies that include 100s of 1000s of children in my story. Here are more from the Autism Science Foundation: autismsciencefoundation.org/autism-and-v...

I recently read accounts of the plague & it was jarring just how much it shaped & redefined social order/life in that era Covid had a fraction of that impact but it’s fallout still fuels much of what happens now A more severe pandemic is something we need to be doing more to prevent

Infectious Diseases@infectiousdz.bsky.social · last yr.

When we didn't have science, infectious diseases could be really, really bad Bring the wrong, new pathogen and a big population together, bad 14th century: Bubonic plague (Black Death) killed > 1 in 3 in Europe, maybe even 1 in 2, total of 75M - 200M in Europe pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

In a measles outbreak, children as young as 6 months can be vaccinated early and then vaccinated again per the regular schedule. This is an extra vaccine and does not count towards the two they should have. publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/what-to...

What to Know About Measles and Vaccines | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Experts worry that misinformation and falling vaccination rates could cause measles outbreaks to become more common in the U.S.

publichealth.jhu.edu

Dr. @gavinyamey.bsky.social & I highlight the serious risks of the U.S. withdrawing from the WHO,both for American & global health security. When the WHO is supported, the world benefits. In the face of rising infectious & chronic disease threats, we need solidarity, not isolation. #GlobalSolidarity

In Nature Medicine, we highlight 8 steps to prevent H5N1 🦅 🐄 🐓 (bird flu) from becoming a pandemic. Free access at rdcu.be/ea153 w/ @ranudhillon.bsky.social @abraarkaran.bsky.social Robert Garry

Steps to prevent and respond to an H5N1 epidemic in the USA

Nature Medicine - Steps should be taken now to prevent an epidemic of H5N1 in humans and prepare for an outbreak should it occur.

rdcu.be

Cool paper from Florian Kramer & colleagues about a novel feature of circulating H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4. These viruses have a longer stalk in their neuraminidase (NA) enzyme, a key viral protein. This was not seen in past H5N1 strains (2002-2019) Why does it matter?🧪 journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 neuraminidase has a long stalk, which is in contrast to most highly pathogenic H5N1 viruses circulating between 2002 and 2020 | mBio

While the truncated version of the N1 neuraminidase stalk domain may be associated with increased virulence in poultry, the long version of the stalk domain has been associated with increased transmis...

journals.asm.org

Measles in US in 2025 164 cases Alaska, California, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, Rhode Island, Texas Most children, some too young to be vaccinated 82% under age 20 Vaccination Status Unvaccinated or Unknown: 95% 1 MMR: 3% 2 MMR: 2% www.cdc.gov/measles/data... 🧵

In case you missed it, from Dr Mike Ryan at today's WHO press conference on those unexplained deaths in DRC "very limited in geography" "strong level of suspicion of a poisoning event related to the poisoning of a water source" tinalexander.github.io/notes/2025/0...

Half of Covid-19 patients emitted infectious virus in respiratory particles smaller than 5 microns (>30 min to settle out). Culturability of aerosols was associated with lower neutralizing antibody titers, so immune response matters for transmission potential. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Frequency, kinetics and determinants of viable SARS-CoV-2 in bioaerosols from ambulatory COVID-19 patients infected with the Beta, Delta or Omicron variants - Nature Communications

SARS-CoV-2 can be spread by aerosols. Here the authors show that between 50-60% of ambulatory COVID-19 patients exhale culturable virus and that this is associated with lower neutralizing antibody tit...

nature.com

Measles is an outlier in terms of contagiousness & markedly more contagious than even the most contagious Covid variant Some affected areas seem to have pockets with markedly low vax rates It will be difficult to prevent onward spread in these areas without mass catch-up vaccination

Ranu Dhillon@ranudhillon.bsky.social · last yr.

The clear response *should* be to urgently engage communities on the need & safety of vaccination Measles is super contagious - the avg infectious person infects ~12-18 people For the most contagious Covid variant, it was ~9-12 Other measures likely won't be enough to stop this outbreak (1/3)

The clear response *should* be to urgently engage communities on the need & safety of vaccination Measles is super contagious - the avg infectious person infects ~12-18 people For the most contagious Covid variant, it was ~9-12 Other measures likely won't be enough to stop this outbreak (1/3)

MeidasTouch@meidastouch.com · last yr.

The U.S. has officially recorded its first measles death since 2015. Texas health officials have confirmed that an unvaccinated child has passed away from measles amid a massive outbreak that has impacted nine counties in West Texas. 👉 meidasnews.com/news/the-uni...

I commend every parent who is choosing to do the right thing by vaccinating their child as the measles outbreak spreads. There's no shame in changing your mind on a stance you were wrong about. Especially when it concerns protecting children from disease. www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

As Texas measles outbreak grows, parents are choosing to vaccinate kids

At least 124 people, mostly babies, children and teens, have been infected. Eighteen people have been hospitalized.

nbcnews.com

Samples have been sent further afield for testing. For now WHO only reports "Metagenomic sequencing and additional investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of illness and deaths in the two health zones".

It seems like metagenomic next-gen sequencing akin to what Charles Chiu @ucsfhealth.bsky.social does could help pinpoint the culprit pathogen Has this been tried? If not, an issue of sample preservation & transport? Limits of detection with certain sample types? In 2025, this is a solvable problem

Infectious Diseases@infectiousdz.bsky.social · last yr.

2 clusters of deaths from unknown cause(s) in Équateur, DRC: - Bolomba Health Zone: 12 cases, 8 deaths (CFR 66.7%) - Basankusu Health Zone: 419 cases, 45 deaths (CFR 10.7%) - no epi links between clusters - ~ half of deaths occur in first 48 hours complicating evaluation - Ebola, Marburg ruled out

Our commentary in Nature on immediate steps to combat the #H5N1 bird flu outbreak. @ranudhillon.bsky.social @sri-srikrishna.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

If H5N1 evolves to spread between people, it could spur a pandemic In @naturemedicine.bsky.social, @sri-srikrishna.bsky.social Robert Garry @abraarkaran.bsky.social & I discuss the mutations it may take for this to happen & what we could do now to stop it & be prepared in case it does rdcu.be/ea153

Steps to prevent and respond to an H5N1 epidemic in the USA

Nature Medicine - Steps should be taken now to prevent an epidemic of H5N1 in humans and prepare for an outbreak should it occur.

rdcu.be

Extreme weather is our new reality. We must accept it and begin planning | Gaia Vince

Extreme weather is our new reality. We must accept it and begin planning | Gaia Vince

As wildfires, floods, droughts and record-breaking temperatures have shown, the post-climate change era has arrived. Now we need honesty and action from our leaders

theguardian.com

#USDA has confirmed that the discovery of #H5N1 #birdflu in Arizona — found through bulk milk testing — does indeed represent a new spillover from wild birds into cows. This is the third time this has been observed to have happened. www.aphis.usda.gov/news/program...

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦@helenbranswell.bsky.social · last yr.

Because there's not enough going on: Arizona has found #H5N1 #birdflu in milk and it looks like yet another spillover from wild birds. www.statnews.com/2025/02/14/a...

Many people have asked me how can they best stay informed and protect their health while we navigate the indefinite pause on communications from NIH, CDC, & FDA. Here’s a thread on concrete steps YOU can take to protect yourself & your community. 🧵

Really proud to share our preprint describing early adaptation of H5N1 to US dairy cattle, and showing how these mutations enhance the ability of the virus to infect other mammals, such as pigs and humans. With @influenzal.bsky.social @vidhid.bsky.social @drclairesmith.bsky.social and many more!

Polymerase mutations underlie adaptation of H5N1 influenza virus to dairy cattle and other mammals.

In early 2024, an unprecedented outbreak of H5N1 high pathogenicity avian influenza was detected in dairy cattle in the USA. The epidemic remains uncontrolled, with spillbacks into poultry, wild birds...

biorxiv.org

@stephanienolen.bsky.social is one of the great science and health reporters. This dispatch on mpox in DRC deserves all the awards. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/07/h...

In Congo, a Medical Mystery Offers Clues to the Mpox Epidemic

In a remote Congolese town, a medical mystery led to the discovery of alarming changes in the mpox virus and, eventually, to a global health emergency.

nytimes.com