Dear @bbc, can you please get the basics of the EU entry/exit system right? It's not something that will be "active at every border crossing in 29 participating countries" - at borders between the 29 countries there are no checks. It's only a check on people entering the Schengen area.

An early look at 2025 mortality, from Denmark. Age-standardized mortality in Denmark in 2025 is significantly (>95% confidence) lower than pre-pandemic, and excess is not statistically significant. 1/

Deaths rates in 2026 remain remarkably low, well below 2025's record low. Interesting question for actuaries is the extent to which this is indicative of the future, or whether the loss of the most frail during the pandemic means that rates are artificially low at the moment. Good news anyway!

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This is the main reason I use a credit card. If you pay by bank transfer/ideal/wero, you have chosen to transfer the money and your bank won't give you your money back, just like if you give a stranger a €50 note. With a credit card, they'll typically get your money back. nos.nl/artikel/2614...

And I quote Salk, later in his life, on this point: "I'm frequently asked, 'What is the next breakthrough going to be?' My response usually is, 'To use the knowledge we already possess.'"

2nd sentence asks: "Why do we tax ourselves at ever greater levels to sustain this fiscal Leviathan?" If I were writing a "progressive case for welfare reform" (& I agree such a case exists) I would not start by making a claim which is not only false but debunked by *my article's own chart*..

I mean, it's not odd is it. Either economically or politically. You can disagree with it (really only on the latter grounds, given the evidence) but obviously this is going to come up

Some have misinterpreted my critique of the limitations of RCTs to say that in vitro lab modelling suffices for drug development. It doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean space suits (a form of respirator) need RCTs

There is no RCT evidence that non-leaky condoms are better than leaky condoms vs HIV. There is no RCT evidence mosquito nets are better vs malaria than tuna fishing nets.

Today @who.int declared a PHEIC—a public health emergency of international concern—for the Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak in DRC/Uganda without convening an Emergency Committee. That is unprecedented. The situation is catastrophic. Six experts explain why: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKag...

Does *anyone* understand why the default keeps resetting to "wash your hands" and little more? This time around, not adequately discussing the air did nothing to prevent conspiracies of lab release or fears of global pandemic. So why doesnt public health just get more real?

Germany's Covid-19 hospitalizations dashboard hits 0.0 for the first time since February 2020. infektionsradar.rki.de/en/covid/sari

I see Simon Heffer, in Michael Gove's Spectator, is once again repeating his lie that Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech wasn't about race.. I debated Heffer recently (at the Oxford Litfest) - here's what I said. archive.ph/bqKZF

To most of us, this is dead obvious and common sense. But not for public health officials, evidently.

It's widely accepted that hantavirus transmits from rodent excreta to humans via inhalation of aerosolized virus, so I don't understand why we're so reluctant to acknowledge the inhalation route for human-to-human transmission. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/h...

Spot on, from @linseymarr.bsky.social, as always: --> “I don’t understand why we are so reluctant to acknowledge the inhalation route when we’re talking about person-to-person transmission" [1/2] www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/h...

Nigel Farage tells The Sun's Harry Cole that Elon Musk offered to give Reform loads of money "if we said certain things" and he refused. "I can't be bought." Two things: 1. This is an allegation of attempted bribery. Very serious. 2. It shows the obvious: donors expect something for their money.

OUR NEW BMJ editorial: Andes virus should reset WHO’s default approach to airborne risk. 🧵 1/ For severe pathogens with person-to-person transmission, the starting point should be precautionary airborne protections — not waiting for definitive proof after spread occurs. www.bmj.com/content/393/...

I just did an 18-part X thread that starts below, too tired to copy paste it all for BlueSky but if someone would do that I would be appreciative

For the benefits of risking in any way a zoonotic outbreak becoming a pandemic to outweigh the expected costs, the probability of it becoming a pandemic must be tiny because pandemics cost a fortune. The COVID-19 Pandemic and the $16 Trillion Virus - PMC share.google/RVgZJ1aDxHZ3...

It is entirely possible to a) think this particular outbreak is unlikely to be "the next COVID", but b) not think there is nothing to be concerned about in the bigger picture. To zoonoses and lack of preparedness, I would add immediate minimizing by public health and lack of precautionary principle.

Is that a baggy blue that I see on a #hantavirus passenger? Yes. Yes, it is. www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/national/ont...

2/ The passengers that went to Atlanta are a couple: One has a positive PCR for hantavirus but doesn't have symptoms, and the other has mild symptoms but hasn't tested positive. HHS said the first person was “mildly positive,” which is a ridiculous way of saying: They have hantavirus.

Only "mildly positive" (?) though, so no need to test anyone else. arstechnica.com/health/2026/...

"The failure of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to suspend Israel from Eurovision, as it did with Russia, is an act of cowardice and an illustration of blatant double standards when it comes to Israel," says Amnesty International (@amnesty.org): www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...

This does not convey confidence that us leadership even understands the virus let alone is dealing with it properly. Reports suggest us citizens potentially exposed not being quarantined. Hopefully they will be ok but it’s a risk other countries notably not willing to take

I'm seeing multiple MDs, including those high up at the WHO, repeatedly say the public need not worry about hantavirus, you need close prolonged contact to get the illness, it's not airborne, and most worryingly, the WHO advising HCWs to use inadequate respiratory protection. Here's the problem. 1/

Were they wearing an N95 for the entire flight? Were the other passengers? We need to know.

Healthy life expectancy probably doesn't mean what you think it means. Often cited in the State Pension Age debate, recent headlines suggest we’re spending fewer years in good health - but there is a risk of misinterpreting these findings. This @financialtimes.com chart helps explain why.

According to the Dutch national broadcaster, the Dutch stewardess has tested negative for hantavirus. Does anyone have a reference for what the false negative rate is for whatever test they did? I mean, testing negative doesn't mean you don't have it. Bayes rule tells us that nos.nl/artikel/2613...

Everything I read about this hantavirus outbreak says 1) people get infected by breathing in airborne rat dropping or urine particles (ie. infectious aerosols), 2) it then gets into the lungs and causes lung disease, 3) it's not like covid because you need extensive close contact for ...

Hantavirus: No vaccine any time soon.

Among adults 50 years of age or older, fewer cases of confirmed influenza-like illness were observed with an mRNA influenza vaccine than with standard vaccines. Reactogenicity was higher with the mRNA vaccine. Full phase 3 Fluent trial results: https://nej.md/4nfu2z8 #InfectiousDisease

The paper that forced global acceptance that COVID‑19 is airborne: 'Ten scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS‑CoV‑2', @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social et al., published in The Lancet (2021). 💪Evidence that conclusively ended airborne denial. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

This is too good not to share

Clandestine Covid vaccine paper secretly shows >= 50% vaccine efficacy against Covid-associated ED encounters and against hospitalisations for the 2025-2026 vaccine in age >=18. --> The adapted vaccine continues to confer robust protection, similar to annual flu vaccines.

How are AI images and videos changing the world we live in? How can we even still tell what is real and what is not? In an effort to find out, I visited Hany Farid, „sort of the dean of digital forensics“, for a couple of days in Berkeley. It was eye-opening. My story in @science.org 🧪

„Kohlendioxid ist gut für Pflanzen!“ 🤡🎉

This is crazy. Imagine a hole the size of a football field that is 700 feet deep. Now fill it up with wastewater, and remove a tablespoon. That was our starting material for this study. 1/

KFF:Estimating Effectiveness of Influenza and COVID-19 Vaccines: The “Test-Negative” Design by Josh Michaud and Jennifer Kates @kff.org bit.ly/4cIF2l1

Dr. David Morens - who is 78 years old and served his country for nearly 50 years - used Gmail, which he shouldn't have done. However, "[he] was stripped and handcuffed [by] a half-dozen federal agents carrying guns and wearing tactical gear [..] and jailed". www.science.org/content/arti...

😱 ridiculous intimidation. Guns and bulletproof vests: How federal agents arrested Fauci aide David Morens, 78, was stripped and handcuffed for email violations www.science.org/cont...

Interesting to read this article. Most of it, as you'd expect, was about acute stage risks (much lower than previously). There was only a little bit about longer term consequences (like heart disease). My take on that is I don't see anyone looking, but that there aren't obviously more...

Fun with literary devices. This kind of reversal can make someone think twice about the point you are making.

If you want to get up to speed on the AMOC, and what research says about its stability and the future timing of slowdown and collapse, then read this excellent and definitive @carbonbrief.org piece and interactive tool interactive.carbonbrief.org/amoc-explain...

The completely rewritten new version indoorco2map.com App is now available for both Android and iPhone. It removes the biggest problems of the old App, especially location search which is now very reliable and also a lot faster (usually <1 second) but also features dozens of small improvements. 1/n

The Department of Percentages was hardest hit.

Moderna’s combo flu-COVID vaccine has received European authorization. Read more: ow.ly/vFpx50YONcH