Stefan Pöhlmann
@snpoehlm.bsky.social
Viruses & Proteases, Head of Infection Biology Unit, Deutsches Primatenzentrum, @primatenzentrum.bsky.social, Decoding viral entry, Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants, https://linktr.ee/snpoehlm, Views are my own
13 new sequences from Spain (collected May-July 2026) provide further evidence that BA.3.2 is most likely no longer dominant. In this small batch, XFG* is the majority lineage, with only 2 BA.3.2 sequences. #BA32
Stefan Pöhlmann@snpoehlm.bsky.social · 6d ago9 new sequences from Spain 🇪🇸, all from July 2026 7 are XFJ*, 2 are XFG*, no #BA32 Official data suggest that BA.3.2 dominance might be broken by X* viruses. docsivira.isciii.es/Informe_sema...
1/ I may have missed the relevant posts, but it appears that BA.3.2 is also the dominant variant in Israel 🇮🇱 at present.
1/ 82 new sequences from New South Wales 🇦🇺, all collected in June and July 2026. XDV subvariants continue to dominate (>60%), led primarily by RK*. They are followed by RF.5* (~15%), BA.3.2 (~10%) and XFG (<10%). #BA32
Stefan Pöhlmann@snpoehlm.bsky.social · 2w ago88 new sequences from New South Wales 🇦🇺, collected June and July 2026. XDV subvariants (mainly RK*) dominate, BA.3.2 at roughly 10%. The results for this batch are in keeping with official data: health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/c...
Historic papers in virology - today, 43 years ago, Evans and colleagues mapped a major poliovirus type 3 neutralization site to just eight amino acids in the VP1 capsid protein. By analysing antibody-resistant mutants, they directly connected viral sequence changes with escape from neutralization.
‘This Is Very Strange’: Ancient Smallpox May Have Been Less Deadly www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/s...
‘This Is Very Strange’: Ancient Smallpox May Have Been Less Deadly
Scientists have found smallpox viruses in the remains of people in Chile from around 500 years ago, revealing how the virus may have evolved into a global killer.
nytimes.com
Ebola Outbreak Is Now the Second-Deadliest Ever, and in Record Time www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/w...
Ebola Outbreak Is Now the Second-Deadliest Ever, and in Record Time
The disease has killed more than 1,500 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo in just over two months, causing deaths faster than officials have ever recorded.
nytimes.com
Apparently two new PJ.2.1 from Canada but listed as PJ.1 by Nextclade, EPI_ISL_20503474 and EPI_ISL_20503445 @ryanhisner.bsky.social
9 new sequences from Spain 🇪🇸, all from July 2026 7 are XFJ*, 2 are XFG*, no #BA32 Official data suggest that BA.3.2 dominance might be broken by X* viruses. docsivira.isciii.es/Informe_sema...
34 new SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Malaysia 🇲🇾, collected in July 2026. XDV* subvariants dominate, followed by RF.5*. This pattern coincides with a clear increase in reported COVID-19 cases, although hospital admissions have not (yet) increased. data.moh.gov.my/dashboard/co...
115 new SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Hong Kong, most collected in June and July 2026. Almost all belong to XDV* lineages, with SV.1 and SV.2 being particularly common. These findings are consistent with the official surveillance data from Hong Kong. chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/co...
"politicizing science remains a vital political tactic." "Wednesday’s hearing was another example of how criticizing scientists has become an important outlet for the [Republican] party – and where relitigating the Covid crisis justifies skepticism of a broad range of science."
Prof Sheena Cruickshank@sheencr.bsky.social · 7d agoGood summary of what the insanity that was the Fauci hearing yesterday was about- basically a senators vendetta against Fauci and overall an attack on science versus conspiracy theories. An absolute shocking display from the Republican senators involved.
Haven't seen this shared, but it's a great one by a giant in the field, Trevor Bedford. Finds that fastest SARS-2 fitness growth was 2021 to mid-2022. Since then there's been a steady rate of evolution ("fitness flux") >4x faster than H3N2 flu A, a benchmark for rapidly evolving RNA viruses. 1/2
Visual summary of PJ.2.1'sAA muts on top of BA.2.86. As @solidevidence.bsky.social shows, it's spread quite far geographically, from its origin in Ontario, Canada, to (at least) Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, & DC. I may be missing some. 1/2
Solid Evidence@solidevidence.bsky.social · 7d agoFourteen more PJ.2.1 wastewater detections. It is dominant in many sites. NYC (8), Maui (2). Maine, Virginia, Florida and DC. No obvious uptick in cases in any of these places that I could find though.
Likely transition from pandemic to endemic spread. PJ.2.1 is wildcard
Solid Evidence@solidevidence.bsky.social · 7d agoCOVID lineages are kind of chaos right now. 5 different groups that diverged from each other 1-4 years ago are still in circulation, but nothing shows signs of dominating. This hasn't happened before. XFG* NB.1.8.1* LF.7* BA.3.2* PJ.2.1*
Trump Administration Live Updates: Fauci to Testify on Covid Origins www.nytimes.com/live/2026/07...
Fauci to Testify on Covid Pandemic: Trump Administration Live Updates
nytimes.com
29 new sequences from Japan 🇯🇵, collected May, June and July 2026. 28 are BA.3.2. Save to say that #BA32 dominates.
I am sick of some media uncritically repeating Rand Paul's misrepresentation of Fauci's journal about the Huanan market. In late Jan 2020, it was a common commentary that the market may not be the origin of the outbreak, b/c of a Lancet paper on early cases ▫️1/6 www.paul.senate.gov/wp-content/u...
Fauci, in Private Diary, Reflected on Covid’s Origins and His Own Fame www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/u...
Fauci, in Private Diary, Reflected on Covid’s Origins and His Own Fame
Private entries, released by a Republican senator, have reignited a furious debate over whether Covid-19 leaked from a lab.
nytimes.com
Historic papers in virology - today, 20 years ago, Keele and colleagues traced the origins of pandemic HIV-1 to geographically distinct chimpanzee populations in Cameroon, showing that HIV-1 groups M and N arose from simian immunodeficiency viruses infecting chimpanzees (P. t. troglodytes).
This drug could help end the HIV epidemic. Its rollout has hit speed bumps | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
This drug could help end the HIV epidemic. Its rollout has hit speed bumps
One shot of lenacapavir can protect for 6 months—but aid cuts and uncertain demand mean little drug has reached the countries that most need it
science.org
🧪Does the licensed VSV-EBOV vaccine protect against the Bundibugyo ebolavirus responsible for the ongoing outbreak?
International PhD students to face strict limits on time in the US www.nature.com/articles/d41...
International PhD students to face strict limits on time in the US
Trump administration takes action to address ‘forever students’.
nature.com
New Correspondence Pseudovirus-based analysis of host cell entry and vaccine-induced neutralisation of Bundibugyo virus. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Pseudovirus-based analysis of host cell entry and vaccine-induced neutralisation of Bundibugyo virus
The Bundibugyo virus (Orthoebolavirus bundibugyoense; BDBV) was identified in 2007 and has caused outbreaks in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2007–08, 2012, and 2026. As of July 9,...
thelancet.com
Measles Cases Hit New Record in U.S., as Vaccination Rates Wane www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/w...
Measles Cases Hit New Record in U.S., as Vaccination Rates Wane
More measles cases have been reported in the United States in the last two years than in all the years from 2000 through 2024 combined.
nytimes.com
‘We Will All Die From Ebola Here’: Virus Stalks Crowded Camps in Congo www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/w...
‘We Will All Die From Ebola Here’: Virus Stalks Crowded Camps in Congo
There are a million people displaced by violence in the epicenter. They live in dangerous conditions and are fighting the virus with very little clean water.
nytimes.com
20 new sequences from Japan 🇯🇵, collected June - July 2026. 100% BA.3.2, which apparently continues to dominate. #BA32
Federico Gueli@siamosolocani.bsky.social · 2w agoBA.3.2.2 still 100% in recent clinical in Japan @snpoehlm.bsky.social
88 new sequences from New South Wales 🇦🇺, collected June and July 2026. XDV subvariants (mainly RK*) dominate, BA.3.2 at roughly 10%. The results for this batch are in keeping with official data: health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/c...
Stefan Pöhlmann@snpoehlm.bsky.social · 4w ago55 new sequences from New South Wales 🇦🇺, mostly collected in June: 3× BA.2.86* / RF.5* 7× BA.3.2* 17× XFG* 28× XDV* #BA32
48 new sequences from Thailand 🇹🇭, all collected June and July 2026 XDV* (RK.1* and others) dominating, BA.2.86* (RF.5*) subvariants frequent. BA.3.2* rare. #BA32 COVID-19 activity in Thailand appears to be low (data available until mid May). cdn.who.int/media/docs/d...
Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/u...
Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities
Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.
nytimes.com
