Rick Bright

Practical, Innovative, Hyper-focused on saving lives. Immunologist, Virologist, Pandemic Nemesis. Posts are mine.

[Rick Bright @RickABright]

This is not surprising. Since 2024, the US response has failed to contain H5N1 in dairy cattle or adequately protect workers. Reports of sick, untested workers are a predictable warning. Allowing this virus to spread puts farmworkers and global health security at risk.

[Paul Nuki @PaulNuki]

Free to read: https://t.co/Zgc9gJePNu

[Paul Nuki @PaulNuki]

Many more cattle ranch workers infected with H5N1 than reported, says US farming union.

The organisation says dairy workers are not being tested and some have "very severe" symptoms.

Full read in link below...

[Conor Browne @brownecfm]

'Speaking with workers, we believe the official case numbers are a vast undercount'.

Damning and informative thread on H5N1 in Washington State.

[Prof Francois Balloux @BallouxFrancois]

This thread is astonishing. The most puzzling aspect yo me is not even the incompetence and paralysis of the autorities but the resignation and fatalism. It feels like reading some chronicle by a medieval peasant ...

[jellyrollblues #CovidIsNotOver #LongCovidAwareness @jlerollblues]

This is rather concerning but seems plausible. @RickABright

[jellyrollblues #CovidIsNotOver #LongCovidAwareness @jlerollblues]

@DrInfoSec @TheWHN @UTPandemics @mnhealth @Thom_Hartmann @MattMcNeilShow @RickABright Your welcome. I really hope I’m working solely on the global pathogen forecast system without sars-cov2 after another 7 years. I'll probably have handed the keys to the model over by then 😂

[Crystal Heath DVM @drcrystalheath]

“Cattle movement consistently explained interstate viral spread more strongly than geographic proximity”
— Discussion, p. 18

“we found no evidence that wild birds contributed to the geographic spread of B3.13 among dairy cattle.”
— Discussion, p. 18

“each week of delay in policy implementation was associated with an additional median 11–12 infected counties per week”
— Counterfactual simulations, PDF p. 16

“Real-time effluent or wastewater monitoring could reduce detection times further still, potentially to days rather than weeks or months.”
— Discussion, p. 20.

[Rick Bright @RickABright]

@PendleWitch_ @PaulNuki It’s important to remember that the current #H5N1 flu virus started & was allowed to spread/seed across the U.S. before the Trump administration came into office. The origin of this one precedes Trump.

[Marc Johnson @SolidEvidence]

@boyohboywhatnow

[Euan Arnott @Nucleocapsoid]

@SolidEvidence 676T was the original residue from pre-2024 H5N1, but 676A got fixed in 2024 B3.13, both in geese and cows?

https://t.co/GYvfFubG6B

[Outbreak Updates @outbreakupdates]

GISAID has published a new update following Washington’s fatal human bird flu case.

Human viral sequences cluster with the dairy-associated B3.13 lineage, and an NA mutation is reported.

[Sayed Abdel-whab (ORCID: 0000-0003-2103-0922) @Sayedabdelwhab]

https://t.co/d1vbsCDBfs
Reply: authors say an upload mix-up merged study and reference sequences. They report corrected database entries and stand by their conclusions. A reminder: surveillance depends on data quality at every step. #BirdFlu

[Katherine Eban @KatherineEban]

This is serious stuff, and it requires a concerted response from the Trump administration. 👇

[Krutika Kuppalli, MD FIDSA @KrutikaKuppalli]

A person in Yakima County has died from complications of bird flu following exposure to infected dairy cattle and a 3rd case has been identified.

We have too often treated bird flu as a threat we can dismiss. Yet it persists. The reported risk to the general public remains low, but that cannot become an excuse for complacency or for overlooking those whose work places them at greater risk.

We need sustained surveillance, transparency, and protection for exposed workers.

People need our attention to be protected. The measure of preparedness is whether we act before someone else’s loss becomes the reason we finally care.

https://t.co/aY56SSKz01

[Outbreak Updates @outbreakupdates]

Hawaiʻi reports its first H5N1 D1.1 wastewater detection

[Crystal Heath DVM @drcrystalheath]

“…we ignore our workers at our peril. The odds are really low, but this virus is not harmless, or just a red eye nuisance. Prayers for the hospitalized worker, his/her family, and all people in the path of H5N1 this fall-winter.”

[Krutika Kuppalli, MD FIDSA @KrutikaKuppalli]

Two human cases of bird flu in Yakima County, including one patient hospitalized with severe illness, are concerning reminders that this threat continues even as attention fades.

We need timely information on:

1️⃣ Genomic sequencing from both cases to assess relatedness and any concerning viral changes.
2️⃣ Detailed exposure histories, including any shared exposures or possible epidemiologic links.
3️⃣ Patients’ symptoms and clinical course.
4️⃣Treatments received and outcomes.

Just because we want to ignore infectious diseases doesn’t mean they’ve gone away. The pathogens remain and continue to evolve which is why surveillance is critical.

https://t.co/Q72edO8yIj

[Marion Koopmans, publications: https://pure.eur.nl @MarionKoopmans]

Something to keep an eye out for 1. what exact virus is this 2. expect to see co circulation of bovine and human influenza, with risk of reassortment . Therefore important to hear of contact tracing results
https://t.co/rDyOPNLUg8

[Euan Arnott @Nucleocapsoid]

Analysis by @sergeilkp shows Washington dairy H5N1 (B3.13) currently very homogenous because it likely arrived in just a few animals (i.e. narrow genetic bottleneck)

BUT - what grabbed my attention here is two signature PB2 *mutations* in this WA branch: R251K and K660R

1/3

[Rick Bright @RickABright]

@Nucleocapsoid @AbraarKaran @RanuDhillon Yes. But still always grateful for your reporting and tagging. This remains a concerning outbreak that still is not getting the serious attention that it needs from the state or federal govts. We need to watch closely and share info as it emerges.