“Somehow, the U.S. is both over- and under-reacting to bird flu and other pressing infectious threats.”
Great to talk to ⁦Katherine J. Wu, Ph.D.⁩ about H5N1 as well as our approach to infectious disease threats in general. theatlantic.com/health/archive…

I am deeply alarmed by reports of mass graves in Gaza.
 
Independent investigators must be allowed immediate access.
 
The families of the dead have a right to know what happened.

The world has a right to accountability for any violations of int’l law that may have taken place.

This country has more force for student protesters than they did for Jan. 6 or white supremacists marching through campuses with Tiki torches.

A full scale invasion on Rafah would be a humanitarian catastrophe.

We appeal to Israel not to proceed. We urge all parties to work for a ceasefire and lasting peace.

Tune in on May 9th at 10AM when experts in epidemiology, infectious diseases, & veterinary medicine unpack what is currently known about #H5N1 , and what still needs to be better understood to avoid widespread human cases.
bu.edu/ceid/2024/04/2…

There are reports out of Ranchi, India of 8 human H5N1 cases: 6 poultry farm workers & 2 doctors (which is of particular concern if accurate as canaries of H2H spread)

Clusters of limited H2H H5N1 spread are not unheard of: v. different to sustained H2H.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ranchi/bi…

12/ Big picture, there needs to be more transparency & cooperation across the board: among federal agencies, local agriculture & public health officials & farmers.

Better cooperation will reduce risk for the industry & for public health.

No live #H5N1 virus found from PCR + milk in a smaller targeted sample per U.S. FDA.

“The FDA is further assessing retail samples from its study of 297 samples of retail dairy products from 38 states.”

fda.gov/food/alerts-ad…

1/ Are you struggling to keep track of all the #H5N1 developments in the US?

Together w/ Brennan Klein & Moritz Kraemer, we started an open-access timeline of key events related to the outbreak.

As you can see, the situation is rapidly progressing, so we will keep updating.

Join me, CEID Faculty Kayoko Shioda, PhD, DVM, MPH Boston University School of Public Health, John Connor NEIDL, as well as Alessandro Vespignani Northeastern U. in a little under two weeks to have conversation about the state of science and public health response, and ask us all the questions on your mind about #H5N1 !

Register below.

Honored to join Boston Medical Center hosted roundtable today w Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley & Dr. Simon HHS.gov to hear lived truth and experiences of long covid patients. And to support Jai Marathe & Dr. Cassandra Pierre on important work they are doing around this Boston Medical Center. Link below for resources.

'The H5N1 Bird Flu Is a Growing Threat for Farm Animals and Humans—How Serious Is It?'

Great to talk to Boston University The Brink.
bu.edu/articles/2024/…

One human case reported in current outbreak which was mild. Risk to general public remains low. Concern is widespread infection in more mammals could help virus evolve to more efficiently infect humans & transmit between humans (no evidence currently). medpagetoday.com/opinion/second…

USDA samples dont have dates & locations which would be important to study interspecies movement of virus within the same farm

Would also great to see the studies performed by USDA & others on virus distribution in different tissue in animals (i.e. sample size, disease stage)

-more cats on farms found to be infected, signs shows possible neurotropic nature of the virus, at least in cats
-what did I miss?

-USDA reported virus found in a pulmonary tissue of a single cow (just one cow but concerning if virus adapting to lungs & possible changes in transmission capacity)
-USDA order asks lactating cows be tested before interstate movement 3/n

3 more cats have tested positive for H5N1 bird flu in connection with outbreaks at dairy farms.

'The reports we heard were of cats having neurologic symptoms, rapid decline, and death,' according to the CDC.

3 other cats died in Texas earlier this month.

This day, 2 weeks ago, I was lecturing on Emory campus

If this is how Atlanta police can treat Emory professors… I’m speechless