Nice coverage by @kakape.bsky.social in @science.org of our preprint, where we present data showing orthopoxviruses, including MPXV, infect duikers, which are popular bushmeat in many mpox endemic regions. Highlights lots more about orthopoxvirus ecology to explore: www.science.org/content/arti...

Can safely way this is the craziest and coolest study I have led. We chart the evolution of sheeppox virus, finding it in the Eurasian steppe ~3700 years ago, and also in a LOT of parchment from medieval Europe (made from a range of animals skins!) #aDNA

A paper for the #eDNA crowd, in particular those using flies for terrestrial biomonitoring. We show that massive pooling works well, reducing costs + time, bringing us a step closer to scalable terrestrial eDNA biomonitoring. doi.org/10.1002/edn3...

If you could take just one journalist with you to a polar archipelago, who would it be? 100% @kakape.bsky.social😉 Thanks for the extensive conversations and excellent reporting. Immer wieder gerne!

New study by the Institut Pasteur de Bangui and HIOH examines CAR #mpox outbreaks via genomic #epidemiology. High frequencies of independent spillovers highlight the need to strengthen systematic surveillance & identify animal sources to prevent future outbreaks www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

We were part of another viral aRNA study that was just published. In this work spearheaded by Christian Urban in the lab of Verena Schuenemann, a new protocol was assessed (good for short fragments) and a seventh 1918 flu genome was completely sequenced bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

We just succeeded in formally linking a specific rodent species - the otherwise charming fire-footed rope squirrel - to the onset of a mpox outbreak in a primate species - sooty mangabeys. Here Kai’s report on the preprint we released yesterday 1/2

We are looking for a dedicated replacement to work as a technical assistant. www.helmholtz-hzi.de/karriere/job... If you are interested, please send us your complete application documents in accordance with the job advertisement. @helmholtz-hioh.bsky.social

🧬 First update from the eDNA lab! 🪰 Extracting mammalian DNA from carrion flies collected in Tanzania for biodiversity studies. A first trial using @helmholtz-hioh.bsky.social protocol for the flies collected by @uantwerpen.bsky.social + #Gecolab Shoutout to @paulinevanl.bsky.social ! 📸 #eDNA

🚨 #Job Alert 🚨 Die Bewerbungsfrist für die Position als Institutssekretär:in am HIOH endet bald! 📅 Bewerbungsschluss: 22. Januar. Eine spannende Chance, Teil eines internationalen Forschungsteams in Greifswald zu werden. Mehr Infos: www.helmholtz-hioh.de/fileadmin/HI... #JobOpportunity #OneHealth

Excited to announce the African STARS Fellowship, one of the largest programs in Africa. In partnership with Mastercard Foundation, Institut Pasteur & Stellenbosch University, initial funding of 165 million rands. Press release ceri.org.za/news/?token=... Launch 15 Jan, Cape Town, SA

A very reasonable thread on this (a bit unnecessarily overheated) debate.

Hi Related to your & the previous post, I looked it up and there are 120 Study Groups (SGs), with collectively more than 900 members. These are expert and typically quite experienced virologists, & should provide a reasonable cross-section of knowledge and expertise. So it's not a mad dictatorship!

🦠 We are recruiting two 2-year postdocs to work at the intersection of virus genomics and infectious disease. jobs.rvc.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx... Please share widely!

Here the article where the ICTV explains the transition to Latinized binomial species names. I think the rationale is compelling: this change brings coherence, aligning viral taxonomy with that of all other biological entities 1/5 www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

Grateful to @smritimallapaty.bsky.social for covering our analysis of host transcriptional infection signatures at the Huanan market! Still not the “smoking raccoon dog” but getting closer… www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Out now: How we screened great apes from museum collections to find viruses! rdcu.be/d1UsZ