Michael Kinch

Bird Flu Emergency Response Ends in US as Infections Decline The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ended its emergency response for bird flu as the outbreak that sickened dozens of people, spread to cattle and drove up egg prices has abated.

SCOOP > The CDC has ended its bird flu emergency in the US. @jessicanix.bsky.social has more >
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

As bird flu numbers increase around the world, we let down our guard. Where is the sense in that?

Opinion | This Idea Explains a Lot About What Has Happened in Trump 2.0

Very interesting insight provide in this opinion piece by Nathan Levine. Helps to understand why academia has become so unpopular.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/06/o...

We set out to quantify U.S. academic contributions to medicines. The results stunned even us From 2020 to 2024, universities contributed patents underpinning 50% of FDA-approved drugs. 87% of those academic breakthroughs came from American institutions.

Findings from Center for Research Innovation in Biotechnology (CRIB) and @stonybrooku.bsky.social about the impact of American universities surprised even us.

We have a responsibility to help educate the public not just about our findings, but about ourselves.

www.statnews.com/2025/06/06/u...

While I almost never use AI, I asked Perplexity to rewrite "First They Came" using current-day examples. Here is the outcome:

Perhaps there is hope for new technologies...

As a native of Greater Cincinnati, I loved the Big Red Machine.

Yet I am terribly disappointed that MLB decided to reinstate Pete Rose.

I learned much from my time in Cincy, most notably the difference between right and wrong.

It's too bad he didn't...

Come together, right now The chaos, conflicting information, firings, and hurtful rhetoric of the Trump administration’s approach to science over the past month are causing anxiety, grief, and concern for the scientific commu...

Important appeal in this editorial by @holdenthorp.bsky.social in the eminent journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This is of relevance to all of us in Academia, not only in the sciences, and not only in the US.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Association of poultry vaccination with interspecies transmission and molecular evolution of H5 subtype avian influenza virus Mass poultry vaccination affects H5 avian influenza virus transmission and evolution, revealing complex host-virus dynamics.

There is an interesting new article in @science.org indicating that poultry vaccination may be driving #influenza virus evolution. As with antibiotic resistance, the responsible use of vaccines in livestock herds is a topic we avoid at our own risk.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

US Investigates Worrying Bird Flu Strain on Duck Farm in California US officials are investigating the appearance of a strain of bird flu identified in the US for the first time, a worrying sign that the virus is evolving in ways that could make it harder to contain.

Why did we have to rely upon an obscure Paris animal health group to learn about H5N9 in California?

“It is extremely unusual, and I believe it reflects the policy decision for everyone to go dark”

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

US Investigates Worrying Bird Flu Strain on Duck Farm in California US officials are investigating the appearance of a strain of bird flu identified in the US for the first time, a worrying sign that the virus is evolving in ways that could make it harder to contain.

“This the wrong time of year and the wrong virus to be messing around with"

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

"Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day today, haven't we?"

"Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow though."

- Grant and Sherman after the disaster of the first day of Shiloh, April 1862. They won the next.

Today is one of the bad days in American history. Better days will come.