Wrote this on the train home from Metascience. Can’t quite believe this one needed saying, but I really think that if conversations about research integrity and open science don’t take academic bullying seriously, we’ll keep perpetuating the same system that science reform was trying to change.

UK warned it’s on course to fail in efforts to wipe out bovine TB | Science, Climate & Tech News https://www.europesays.com/uk/396299/ Controversial efforts to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) in cattle are likely to fail unless there’s greater urgency and funding…#uk #news #uknews

It’s 100 years since efforts to control bovine TB began & 50 since badgers got the blame. Review after review after review & still the #WarOnWildlife continues. We need a new approach - one which manages risk rather than one which seeks to eliminate the hazard. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Professor Sir Charles Godfray CBE FRS, Chair of the 2025 Review of the Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Strategy for England, will deliver the keynote address at a conference at the University later this month. 🖱️ tinyurl.com/4em9n73j @aberdlsagb.bsky.social #AberTB #bovineTB #bTB #TB

UK warned it's on course to fail in efforts to wipe out bovine TB

An important reminder that H5N1 isn’t just a risk in North America. Six people have died just this year.

Quick thread on the WHO's SAGO report on the origins of COVID-19, highlighting key points and even *new* data. Their summary is that a zoonotic origin of COVID-19 is best supported by available data. This is consistent with most scientific reviews and statements in the rest of the literature.

The Guardian view on China, Africa and disappearing donkeys: an unexpected crisis offers a clue to perils ahead www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Traded wild animals are often sick & teeming with potential pathogens Several Chinese teams found coronaviruses in confiscated pangolins, including those that share 92% of their genome with SARS-CoV-2 The viruses caused covid-like symptoms in pangolins, and have the potential to infect humans 4/

Like it or not,such human-wildlife interfaces are here to stay Without understanding how viruses jump species & why some jumps cause outbreaks & others don’t,you’re really flying blind,says @mvankerkhove.bsky.social @who.int “You’re making recommendations that may not be the most appropriate” 2/

Wildlife trade acts as a vast global network of unregulated natural laboratories,with ample opportunities for viruses to circulate & evolve to become more dangerous We can either turn a blind eye or try to understand & mitigate the risks My latest in @nature.com 1/ www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Some scientists like @jw132.bsky.social recognise the “small possibility” that research-associated activities could have triggered the pandemic. But that “should not prevent us for focusing on the bigger picture”: the wildlife trade poses a much greater zoonotic risk than do lab accidents. 3/

BREAKING: In a serious blow to US pandemic flu preparedness, HHS has cancelled a contract with Moderna to test and license prototype vaccines for #H5N1 #birdflu and other potential pandemic viruses. In a pandemic, mRNA is the fastest way to vaccine doses. www.statnews.com/2025/05/28/m...

#H5N1 #birdflu found its way into 1 of California's few remaining herds that hadn't been infected. CA's total is now 767, of which 630 have recovered & cleared quarantine. Cumulative national total: 1073 herds in 17 states. Wisconsin soon to join the milk testing program. Watching with interest.

The number of confirmed #measles cases in the US this year had risen to 1168 as of 6/5. Given we're not yet half way through 2025, seems likely this year's tally will exceed that of 2019, currently the highest single year tally since measles elimination in 2000. www.cdc.gov/measles/data...

Important new piece by @janeqiu.bsky.social in @nature.com describing the live animal markets that we continue to allow to put us all at risk

I don't know if there is a more appropriate goodbye to Loretta Swit, than her last scene in MASH in the series finale. Loretta won two Emmy's for her role as Major Houlihan.

This documentary covers the current bird flu situation. Clearly presented, realistic and where necessary with nuance. Interviews by Neil Cairns & team with @linekebegeman.bsky.social, Tom Frieden, @jw132.bsky.social, Jim Paulson and myself. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5XK...

The Razor Science Show provides cutting-edge science and technology stories, including the documentary "Bird flu - the next pandemic?". Neil Cairns interviews @drtomfrieden.bsky.social , @jw132.bsky.social, @linekebegeman.bsky.social, and @debbyvanriel.bsky.social. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5XK...

As Gaza’s children are bombed and starved, we watch – powerless. What is it doing to us as a society? Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The life and death of a ‘laundered’ cow in the Amazon rainforest www.theguardian.com/environment/...

#USDA confirmed another California dairy herd has been infected with #H5N1 #birdflu. That brings CA's total to 756. The CA Dept of Ag. says 422 of those herds have recovered & cleared quarantine. Cumulative national total = 990 herds in 17 states. This doesn't include the herd MN reported y'day.

Climate change deniers used grok to generate a fake paper that they promptly published in a fake journal. It'll have >1 million views on X in under 24 hours. It's not just an example of bad things on X. There are a lot of those. But it also shows that sci comm there is meaningless and futile

🕷️"Spatial analysis and risk mapping of #Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever ( #CCHF) in Sub-saharan #Africa" by Abdoul Kader Ilboudo et al. @ilri.org www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Expanding testing for H5 beyond human patients who meet strict case definitions may be important in detecting further human cases in the US. 👉 www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

"I think Putin clearly felt, after the cut-off of military intelligence to Ukraine, that he had impunity" Former Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, Lord Ricketts, responds to Russian strikes on Ukraine. #Newsnight

🦇 Registrations are now open for the 20th International Bat Research Conference (Cairns, Australia, 3-8 Aug 2025)! Abstract submissions for presentations are also open. More info: ibrc.org #ibrc2025 #ausbats #bats

Elon Musk is a proven danger to good science, but the Royal Society won’t say so. That’s why I resigned | Kit Yates

Kennedy Jr backtracks and says US measles outbreak is now a ‘top priority’ for health department

Unknown illness kills more than 50 in north-west DRC

In UK, antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections in humans have INCREASED by 13% since 2018… Despite a target to reduce them by 10%. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Flea treatments are turning our pets into an environmental hazard – there has to be a better way: Sophie Pavelle www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A seal at a nearby zoo died of bird flu. www.wpri.com/news/local-n...

4. Final note: FluView gives a few details of the 2 most recent #H5N1 human cases, in Wyoming and Ohio. Both were hospitalized; the person in Wyoming is still in hospital. Of the 70 confirmed cases since the outbreak in cows began last year, 4 have been sick enough to require hospital care; 1 died.

🧪 New research suggests raccoon dogs may have been the source of COVID-19, potentially transmitting it to humans at Wuhan's Huanan Seafood Market. Genomic data links their DNA to virus-positive samples. 🩺 🛟

📢 A Court in Kenya has ruled that two of the Northern Rangelands Trust's biggest conservancies were set up unconstitutionally. 📢 A huge blow to the Northern Kenya Grassland Carbon project. 📢 Netflix, Meta, British Airways buy offsets from the project. reddmonitor.substack.com/p/legal-vict...

A little bit of sane reporting. The explosion of rage that this article has triggered in offices at the Waksman Institute was audible from this side of the Atlantic. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Bird flu spreads to marine mammals in UK : www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Uganda is experiencing its eighth #Ebola outbreak in 25 years. A strong public health laboratory system is crucial to prevent the spread of this deadly virus. Our latest blog discusses how the US is preparing and why funding is essential. #publichealth #globalhealth #virology Read more:

📢 Apply now! We are recruiting an Associate Professor / Professor of Evolutionary Genomics to join our innovative research community! Find out more about the position and apply: https://buff.ly/4gIRTDf

We ignore Sudan at our peril. This campaign of mass murder and rape will have global consequences www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Report from Friedrich Loeffler Institute: Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) confirmed in a water buffalo in Brandenburg, Germany. FMD is a highly contagious viral disease of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. Many zoo and wild animals can also contract FMD. 1/3 www.fli.de/en/news/shor...

The last outbreak of FMD in Germany was in Lower Saxony in 1988. The last outbreak in Europe was reported in Bulgaria in 2011. Prior to that, the U.K. was hit by a major FMD outbreak in 2001, followed by France, Ireland and the Netherlands. 3/3 N.B. Foot-and-mouth disease is *not* a zoonosis.

#USDA confirmed 1 more California dairy herd infected with #H5N1 #birdflu, bringing the state's total to 707 and the national total to 924 herds in 16 states. 72% of California's dairy herds have been infected. www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-po...

Following confirmation today by the German Chief Veterinary Officer of a detection of Foot and Mouth Disease in a herd of farmed water buffalo, Germany has now lost its FMD free status. Export Health Certificates will now be required for FMD susceptible products from DE to GB…

rbb24.de: South Korea and the Netherlands have banned imports of pork from Germany to prevent the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) from spreading further. Other countries could follow suit, as FMD is considered to be extremely contagious and can remain active for a long time. rbburl.de/mksimporte Orig.

We ignore Sudan at our peril. This campaign of mass murder and rape will have global consequences | Nesrine Malik

According to the CDC, there have been 1398 outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu in poultry in 600 counties. More than 133 million birds have been affected.

The 1986 critically acclaimed film The Mission won the Cannes Palme d’Or in 1986 and the Oscar for Best Cinematography in 1987 It depicts a prescient moment just before the industrial revolution started following the Treaty of Madrid in 1750. This is a powerful scene (without spoilers)