Sars cov 2 variant update:
In this week @corneliusroemer.bsky.social and XZ spotted a couple of lineages with very divergent spikes:

Silence will not shield scientists from the consequences of an increasingly hostile political landscape.

UK and other non-US scientists must act to support our US colleagues.

Here's what I think we should be doing...

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I’m pleased to share that we FINALLY submitted our latest manuscript on SARS-CoV-2 cryptic lineages and what they tell us about the origins of COVID-19.
This was a ton of work.
medrxiv.org/cgi/content/...
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1/ Influenza wastewater activity levels are currently low across the US, aside from conspicuous areas in CA where #H5N1 is spreading in dairy cows.

A deeper dive into the Wastewater Scan data paints a very concerning picture and should add to our sense of urgency.

Note to journalists: important to communicate that the stated aim of GBD was to have a massive epidemic (immediately before vaccines became available), and also somehow keep it away from older population at higher risk (which would be about 25% of UK population if take age 60 as cutoff)

The panzonootic H5N1 in the making is alarming

and yes, i am an alarmist

Because nobody seems to care

And that is alarming

proudly member of
#varianttrackinggroup

with
@siamosolocani.bsky.social

I’ve updated SARSCoV2 RBD antibody-escape calculator w new deep mutational scanning data of Yunlong Cao & Fanchong Jian.

My interpretation: antigenic evolution currently constrained by pleiotropic effects of mutations on RBD-ACE2 affinity, RBD up-down position & antibody neutralization