James Wood

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 - United Kingdom Controversial efforts to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) in cattle are likely to fail unless there's greater urgency and funding from the government, scientists

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

Labour could end badger cull but only with Covid-style testing and vaccines – report Review says ministers have only ‘small chance’ of wiping out bovine tuberculosis by 2038 without more investment

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 Controversial efforts to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) in cattle are likely to fail unless there's greater urgency and funding from the government, scientists have warned.

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

I think we need action and regulation, not research on this. It is clear what is needed re live mixed animal trade.

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 | Editorial Editorial: The surging export of hides created domestic tensions – and shows how globalisation plays out in unexpected ways

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/

Exclusive: Inside the thriving wild-animal markets that could start the next pandemic Live-animal markets are a natural laboratory for viruses to evolve and spark deadly outbreaks, yet scientists lack support to study the risks they pose.

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/

HHS cancels nearly $600 million Moderna contract on vaccines for flu pandemics HHS has notified Moderna that it is canceling a nearly $600 million contract for vaccines for flu strains that could trigger future pandemics.

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.

YouTube video by RAZOR Science Show Bird flu - the next pandemic?

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...

YouTube video by RAZOR Science Show Bird flu - the next pandemic?

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 I thought we all believed in a collective responsibility towards children. This terrible conflict has made me question that, says Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

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 Cattle moved between ranches, allowing meat from farms linked to deforestation to end up on supermarket shelves

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 It is vital to act, and I urge colleagues to do so. How can we stand by and laud this man while he undermines scientific integrity? asks academic and author Kit Yates

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 Health secretary earlier said outbreak was ‘not unusual’ but with first US measles death in decade steps up response Two days after initially downplaying the outbreak as “not unusual,” the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, on Friday said he…

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