Duncan MacCannell
@drm.bsky.social
Molecular #epidemiology & #publichealth. Pathogen #genomics, #microbiology, #emerginginfections, #AMR, (bio)tech and #opendata.
Personal account. Opinions/dad jokes are my own.
https://duncan.bio
🦅 Low productivity public sector employee.
🔬🦠🧬🖥️💉🌻🍩🐸🥪
Personal account. Opinions/dad jokes are my own.
https://duncan.bio
🦅 Low productivity public sector employee.
🔬🦠🧬🖥️💉🌻🍩🐸🥪
I miss hiking the dish.
The trail is out there: This space-aged Peninsula loop, well loved by locals, is ready for discovery and an excellent late fall hike.
The Bay Area’s perfect fall hike has rolling hills, views and … alien contact?
The trail is out there: This space-aged Peninsula loop, well loved by locals, is ready for discovery and an excellent late fall hike.
bit.ly
November 28, 2025 at 4:31 PM
I miss hiking the dish.
Reposted by Duncan MacCannell
1/ 🚀 Pathoplexus now supports Marburg virus (MARV) and Ravn virus (RAVN) (sister viruses in the same genus). MARV has two main clades and causes severe disease with reported fatality rates of 24–88%.
You can read more detail about adding Marburg here: pathoplexus.org/news/2025-11...
You can read more detail about adding Marburg here: pathoplexus.org/news/2025-11...
November 28, 2025 at 12:37 PM
1/ 🚀 Pathoplexus now supports Marburg virus (MARV) and Ravn virus (RAVN) (sister viruses in the same genus). MARV has two main clades and causes severe disease with reported fatality rates of 24–88%.
You can read more detail about adding Marburg here: pathoplexus.org/news/2025-11...
You can read more detail about adding Marburg here: pathoplexus.org/news/2025-11...
Reposted by Duncan MacCannell
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
November 26, 2025 at 6:03 PM
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
This is really cool!
This is AMAZING! And it's so fantastic to see Fulgor helping out in these large-scale search tasks cc @jermp.bsky.social @ale-campa.bsky.social !
Optimized k-mer search across millions of bacterial genomes on laptops https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.23.690050v1
November 27, 2025 at 12:12 AM
This is really cool!
They will take the Biscoff from my cold, dead hands.
Sean Duffy, the U.S. transportation secretary, has been urging people for the past week to dress and comport themselves better as a way of restoring “civility” to air travel. On Tuesday, he added another item to his list of concerns: the quality of the snacks handed out on commercial flights.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy Wants Healthier In-Flight Snack Options
Sean Duffy, who has been promoting greater decorum among air travelers, said he would like to see choices besides salty pretzels and buttery cookies.
nyti.ms
November 26, 2025 at 10:28 PM
They will take the Biscoff from my cold, dead hands.
As a science major, my favorite course was the Shakespeare elective I took in the drama department.
Why USC students who want to be doctors and engineers are minoring in comedy
Why USC students who want to be doctors and engineers are minoring in comedy
Since 2015, USC's School of Dramatic Arts has offered a minor in comedy performance, but it isn't just aspiring entertainers who pursue the work.
www.latimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:52 PM
As a science major, my favorite course was the Shakespeare elective I took in the drama department.
Reposted by Duncan MacCannell
A Washington resident died of complications from an infection with a bird flu strain never before reported in humans, the state Department of Health said.
Read more: https://cnn.it/4o796sL
Read more: https://cnn.it/4o796sL
November 22, 2025 at 2:43 AM
A Washington resident died of complications from an infection with a bird flu strain never before reported in humans, the state Department of Health said.
Read more: https://cnn.it/4o796sL
Read more: https://cnn.it/4o796sL
Reposted by Duncan MacCannell
A majority of U.S. adults (59%) say they don’t want to get an updated COVID-19 vaccine. This is roughly identical to the share who said in October 2024 that they probably wouldn’t get the updated vaccine.
November 19, 2025 at 6:00 PM
A majority of U.S. adults (59%) say they don’t want to get an updated COVID-19 vaccine. This is roughly identical to the share who said in October 2024 that they probably wouldn’t get the updated vaccine.
Reposted by Duncan MacCannell
On the ByHeart formula recall: “I have never seen a company so aggressively fight to deny the evidence against them," @cspinet.org's Sarah Sorscher said. Why food safety experts are alarmed by the company's response to the infant botulism outbreak:
www.statnews.com/2025/11/14/b...
www.statnews.com/2025/11/14/b...
ByHeart’s ‘bizarre’ response to infant botulism outbreak worries food safety experts
ByHeart’s ‘bizarre’ response to infant botulism outbreak worries food safety experts.
www.statnews.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:04 PM
On the ByHeart formula recall: “I have never seen a company so aggressively fight to deny the evidence against them," @cspinet.org's Sarah Sorscher said. Why food safety experts are alarmed by the company's response to the infant botulism outbreak:
www.statnews.com/2025/11/14/b...
www.statnews.com/2025/11/14/b...
Reposted by Duncan MacCannell
🚨🚨
🧵1/6 #FedFam, reporters - urgent help needed
🚨CDC Museum (a Smithsonian affiliate) is being shuttered🚨
Staff are being “un-RIFed” just to close the museum permanently — then RIFed again in Jan
This is bureaucratic cruelty & cultural vandalism
CDC Library is a national treasure
#SaveCDCLibrary
🧵1/6 #FedFam, reporters - urgent help needed
🚨CDC Museum (a Smithsonian affiliate) is being shuttered🚨
Staff are being “un-RIFed” just to close the museum permanently — then RIFed again in Jan
This is bureaucratic cruelty & cultural vandalism
CDC Library is a national treasure
#SaveCDCLibrary
The David J. Sencer CDC Museum: In Association with the Smithsonian
Free museum exhibiting public health topics and the history of CDC.
www.cdc.gov
November 13, 2025 at 7:09 PM
🚨🚨
🧵1/6 #FedFam, reporters - urgent help needed
🚨CDC Museum (a Smithsonian affiliate) is being shuttered🚨
Staff are being “un-RIFed” just to close the museum permanently — then RIFed again in Jan
This is bureaucratic cruelty & cultural vandalism
CDC Library is a national treasure
#SaveCDCLibrary
🧵1/6 #FedFam, reporters - urgent help needed
🚨CDC Museum (a Smithsonian affiliate) is being shuttered🚨
Staff are being “un-RIFed” just to close the museum permanently — then RIFed again in Jan
This is bureaucratic cruelty & cultural vandalism
CDC Library is a national treasure
#SaveCDCLibrary
Reposted by Duncan MacCannell
Our lab's paper describing the North American H5N1 epizootic is out now in Nature! So thrilled to have this out, and congratulations to @lambod50.bsky.social for all the fantastic work on this: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Ecology and spread of the North American H5N1 epizootic - Nature
The panzootic of highly pathogenic H5N1 since 2021 was driven by around nine introductions into the Atlantic and Pacific flyways, followed by rapid dissemination through wild migratory birds, primaril...
www.nature.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Our lab's paper describing the North American H5N1 epizootic is out now in Nature! So thrilled to have this out, and congratulations to @lambod50.bsky.social for all the fantastic work on this: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Duncan MacCannell
Veteran Jim Blane, almost 101 years old, sat down with CPR News to detail his experience in one of the most pivotal WWII battles, 80 years later. (via Colorado Public Radio)
The Battle of Iwo Jima, through the eyes of a US Marine who lived it
Colorado USMC veteran Jim Blane, almost 101 years old, sat down with CPR News to detail his experience in one of the most pivotal WWII battles, 80 years later.
n.pr
November 11, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Veteran Jim Blane, almost 101 years old, sat down with CPR News to detail his experience in one of the most pivotal WWII battles, 80 years later. (via Colorado Public Radio)
Reposted by Duncan MacCannell
ByHeart has recalled two batches of infant formula sold at major retailers after the FDA linked the product to a multistate botulism investigation.
Baby formula sold at Whole Foods, Target and Amazon recalled after FDA warning
ByHeart has recalled two batches of infant formula sold at major retailers after the FDA linked the product to a multistate botulism investigation.
bit.ly
November 11, 2025 at 8:00 PM
ByHeart has recalled two batches of infant formula sold at major retailers after the FDA linked the product to a multistate botulism investigation.
Reposted by Duncan MacCannell
U.S. multistate infant botulism cases with suspected link to ByHeart infant formula; 13 hospitalizations under investigation
https://beaconbio.org/en/report/?reportid=de74964d-adc2-4d15-ba5b-d6ef2b24336f&eventid=e2f60af9-d476-4609-921c-2349b601aabf&utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social
https://beaconbio.org/en/report/?reportid=de74964d-adc2-4d15-ba5b-d6ef2b24336f&eventid=e2f60af9-d476-4609-921c-2349b601aabf&utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social
November 9, 2025 at 4:15 AM
U.S. multistate infant botulism cases with suspected link to ByHeart infant formula; 13 hospitalizations under investigation
https://beaconbio.org/en/report/?reportid=de74964d-adc2-4d15-ba5b-d6ef2b24336f&eventid=e2f60af9-d476-4609-921c-2349b601aabf&utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social
https://beaconbio.org/en/report/?reportid=de74964d-adc2-4d15-ba5b-d6ef2b24336f&eventid=e2f60af9-d476-4609-921c-2349b601aabf&utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social
Reposted by Duncan MacCannell
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
Reposted by Duncan MacCannell
On Oct 1, 2025, GISAID informed us that they had ended updates to the flat file of SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences and associated metadata that we had used to update Nextstrain analyses since Feb 2020. GISAID's stated rationale was that their "resources are limited". 1/5
November 6, 2025 at 9:46 PM
On Oct 1, 2025, GISAID informed us that they had ended updates to the flat file of SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences and associated metadata that we had used to update Nextstrain analyses since Feb 2020. GISAID's stated rationale was that their "resources are limited". 1/5
November 6, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by Duncan MacCannell
When #mpox cases surged, California’s VRDL rapidly developed a new molecular test to detect and differentiate mpox clades — helping public health labs nationwide respond faster and stay ahead of emerging variants.
Read more in our latest issue of Lab Matters: buff.ly/pbSfxZV
Read more in our latest issue of Lab Matters: buff.ly/pbSfxZV
November 1, 2025 at 4:01 PM
When #mpox cases surged, California’s VRDL rapidly developed a new molecular test to detect and differentiate mpox clades — helping public health labs nationwide respond faster and stay ahead of emerging variants.
Read more in our latest issue of Lab Matters: buff.ly/pbSfxZV
Read more in our latest issue of Lab Matters: buff.ly/pbSfxZV
Hellman hollow just won’t be the same.
For more than a hundred years, a towering Monterey cypress stood sentinel in Golden Gate Park, its sweeping branches shading generations of parkgoers. On Thursday, that chapter came to an end.
San Francisco says goodbye to a century-old cypress in Golden Gate Park
For more than a hundred years, a towering Monterey cypress stood sentinel in Golden Gate Park, its sweeping branches shading generations of parkgoers. On Thursday, that chapter came to an end.
bit.ly
October 31, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Hellman hollow just won’t be the same.