Tom Peacock

Screening melkveebedrijf brengt nog vijf koeien met antistoffen tegen vogelgriep aan het licht Op een melkveebedrijf in Noardeast-Fryslân zijn na screening vijf koeien met antistoffen tegen vogelgriep gevonden, maar er is geen actief virus aangetoond. Minister Wiersma verwacht volgende week een...

5 more dairy cows tested positive for #H5N1 #birdflu antibodies on the Dutch farm where a previous cow tested positive. No surprise that if 1 was positive, others would be too. This dairy farm is the first outside the US to report H5N1 transmission. www-melkvee-nl.translate.goog/artikel/1450...

A data figure showing a phylogenetic tree of H3N2 with 2025-K highlighted, the structure of the HA trimer with mutations characteristic of K highlighted, and box and whisker plots showing % neutralisation of the 2022 H3N2 vaccine strain, and of 2025 clade K, by various human antisera

🚨New Pre-Print🚨
Although H3N2 subclade K has multiple mutations in HA, neutralisation assays with pre-epidemic human sera show only moderate antigenic drift, and vaccines used in the 2024/2025 flu season induced cross-neutralising immunity
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

First evidence in Europe of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 infection in a dairy cow. Antibodies against H5N1 detected in a cow with mastitis and respiratory signs on a Dutch dairy farm at the end of December. A cat on that farm had died from H5N1. www.tweedekamer.nl/downloads/do...

CL3- Research Assistant The Pirbright Institute The Pirbright Institute delivers world-leading research to understand, predict, detect and respond to viral disease outbreaks. We study viruses of livestock that are endemic a...

Interested in high containment work on viruses?

We have an opening at the Pirbright Institute, working on high consequence viruses of livestock and humans in the core CL3 team.
isw.changeworknow.co.uk/pirbright/vm...

Really excited our paper about how H5N1 rapidly adapted to cattle (and how these adaptations also increased its ability to infect cells from the human respiratory tract) is now published! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

am indeed still working in this area! the clade currently circulating globally (minus australia) is 2.3.4.4b, there are a few extant clades other than that but theyre localised (e.g. some 2.3.2.1 decendents in south east Asia, Bangladesh and India), maybe some 2.3.4.4 cousins in China still as well?

Antibodies elicited by the 2025-2026 influenza vaccine in humans A new H3N2 variant (named subclade K) possesses several key hemagglutinin substitutions and is circulating widely during the 2025-2026 influenza season. In this report, we completed experiments to det...

We find that subclade K viruses are antigenically advanced; however, this year's flu vaccine surprisingly elicited antibodies in many individuals that efficiently recognized these viruses. The implications are clear: go get this year’s vaccine if you haven’t already!

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 19, 2025—On December 14, 2025, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced the first detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a dairy herd in Wisconsin. On December 17, the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) completed whole genome sequencing and confirmed that the virus is H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b genotype D1.1. Analysis indicates that this detection is a new spillover event from wildlife into dairy cattle, separate from previous events. Key Points Most detections in U.S. dairy herds have resulted from movements linked to the original spillover event that occurred in the Texas Panhandle in late 2023, involving the B3.13 strain. In early 2025, through the National Milk Testing Strategy, USDA detected two spillover events in Nevada and Arizona dairy herds. Both were identified early, and no further herd infections occurred through animal movements. These events involved the D1.1 strain. The Wisconsin herd, also detected through the National Milk Testing Strategy, represents a new, separate spillover event and involves the D1.1 strain. At this time, no additional dairy herds have been identified as infected in association with this event.

#H5N1 : An infected herd was recently detected in Wisconsin, and genome sequencing indicates that this is yet another spillover event, making it the fourth detected one.

How do these spillovers happen and why are they restricted, so far, to the US?

www.aphis.usda.gov/news/agency-...

A flurry of snowflakes with text reading 'Virus Snowflakes: a collection of paper art viruses by Ed Hutchinson - Download now!' along with the logo of the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research

If you'd like to celebrate the biology of viruses - or the fight against viral diseases - this winter, try out our free and updated #VirusSnowflake designs.
Please share, and if you have any photos of Virus Snowflakes in your area it would be lovely to see them!
cvr-engagement.co.uk/virus-snowfl...

Finished a virology PhD or finishing soon? Check out this job - www.healthjobsuk.com/job/UK/Londo...

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...

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...

I want to spell this out in case the implications aren't clear:

This means all public tools/webapps of GISAID data (all the ones you've been used to seeing thru the pandemic, as far as we can tell) are prohibited.

The file allowed this. Cut that - cut off all tools the public & others were using.

To Finish the Pandemic Agreement, WHO Needs a Trustworthy Viral Database | Think Global Health Online platforms for sharing virus sequences are in disarray. The World Health Organization has a chance to build something new

🚨 NEW: The majority holder of the world's genetic sequence data is a bad actor who can cut off access to critics and competing services. We've tolerated this for years, and now it threatens the pandemic treaty. Time for WHO to step in. With @ctrlalttim.com: www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/to-f...

A diagram depicting a PhD project whereby editing salmon cells or ova leads to viral resistance from ISAV.

If you are looking for a PhD in the UK, please check out the LIDo program - www.lido-dtp.ac.uk/apply.
If you are interested in viruses and making genetically edited salmon, please look up my icase project.
International students are welcome to apply!
Please reach out if you have questions.

A divergent betacoronavirus with a functional furin cleavage site in South American bats Bats are natural reservoirs for a wide range of RNA viruses. Members of the genus Betacoronavirus, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome...

We’ve identified a highly divergent betacoronavirus from South American bat that encodes a functional furin cleavage site.
Another fascinating reminder of how diverse coronavirus evolution is in wildlife reservoirs.
#Virology #VirusEvolution #Bats #Coronavirus

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A banner in a Charles Rennie Mackintosh style showing and influenza virion and reading 'Influenza Update Meeting'

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
Influenza Update 2025
University of Warwick, 15th - 16th December
warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/med/...
Registration from £50 - £120
DEADLINE: 7th November
We hope you can join us there!

Human MX1 orchestrates the cytoplasmic sequestration of neosynthesized influenza A virus vRNPs | PNAS Interferon-inducible Myxovirus resistance 1 (MX1) proteins are known to restrict influenza A virus (IAV) transcription/replication process. Herein,...

After years in the making, Joe McKellar @viroscope.bsky.social’s final PhD paper is finally out today in PNAS! 🎉 🎉🎉
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Mechanisms for cross–neutralisation of diverse bat sarbecoviruses The continuing evolution of SARS–CoV–2 variants of concern, and the increasing spillover potential of sarbecoviruses into the human population presents an important and urgent need to discover cross-r...

And the sister paper from collaborator and good friend Katie Doores ... A deeper dive into how some of these broadly neutralising #sarbecovirus #coronavirus #sars2 #covid antibodies actually work www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Understanding the future risk of bat coronavirus spillover into humans: correlating sarbecovirus receptor usage, host range, and antigenicity. Sarbecoviruses interact with their receptor, angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), via the receptor binding domain (RBD) of Spike, the immunodominant target for neutralising antibodies. Understandin...

Our first post on here and it's a doozy 😍🤩. Our epic piece on #sarbecovirus host range. #virology #sars2 #covid #vaccines. Enjoy and please repost. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Understanding the future risk of bat coronavirus spillover into humans: correlating sarbecovirus receptor usage, host range, and antigenicity. Sarbecoviruses interact with their receptor, angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), via the receptor binding domain (RBD) of Spike, the immunodominant target for neutralising antibodies. Understandin...

Really excited to have been a small part of this work investigating sarbecovirus host range, receptor usage and antigenicity!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.03.673949v1

Near real-time data on the human neutralizing antibody landscape to influenza virus to inform vaccine-strain selection in September 2025 The hemagglutinin of human influenza virus evolves rapidly to erode neutralizing antibody immunity. Twice per year, new vaccine strains are selected with the goal of providing maximum protection again...

In new study led by @ckikawa.bsky.social, we provide near real-time data on human neutralizing antibody landscape to influenza by measuring ~26,000 titers to >100 recent viral strains

Data can inform vaccine selection & evolutionary/epidemiological modeling
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Aminopeptidase N is a receptor for hedgehog merbecoviruses Merbecoviruses, closely related to the highly pathogenetic Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), circulate in hedgehogs throughout Europe and Asia, raising concerns about zoonotic t...

New preprint! If some merbecoviruses use DPP4 and others use ACE2, what do those hedgehog merbecoviruses use?! As it turns out, neither! In our latest study, we uncover the "missing" receptor for the MERS-related viruses in hedgehogs. [These findings were first shared at ASV this year] (1/6)

The cow udder is a potential mixing vessel for influenza A viruses The incursion of high pathogenicity avian influenza A virus (IAV) into US dairy cows is unprecedented in the era of molecular diagnosis and pathogen sequencing. This raises questions over the likeliho...

The cow udder may be a mixing vessel where different strains of influenza can recombine--"underscoring its potential role in generating novel influenza viruses with pandemic risk." [Preprint] www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Children offered chickenpox vaccine on NHS All young children in England and Wales will be offered a free chickenpox vaccine by the NHS from January 2026.

Finally!

from a wildlife perspective its incredibly difficult to put the genie back in the bottle, but from a poultry perspective this work might help inform seasonal biosecurity recommendations - e.g. coastal farms need to consider minimising exposure to gulls in spring/summer due to risk of H5N1?

Genetic reassortment and diversification of host specificity have driven evolutionary trajectories of lineages of panzootic H5N1 influenza Since 2021, subclade 2.3.4.4b A(H5N1) high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) viruses have undergone changes in ecology and epidemiology, causing a panzootic of unprecedented scale in wild and domes...

Really excited to have been a part of this study, lead by @willharv.bsky.social on how reassortment of H5N1 in birds has lead to a 'specialist' genotype that thrives in seabirds and drives summer/spring (rather than winter) waves of poultry outbreaks www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Come work with us👇

The structure of the mammalian bornavirus polymerase complex - Nature Communications Borna disease virus 1 replicates and transcribes its negative sense RNA genome in the nucleus of infected cells. Here, the authors present the cryoEM structures of the large polymerase protein in comp...

Very pleased to have our new work out where we perform a structure/function study on the bornavirus polymerase complex with fantastic coauthors. Have a read www.nature.com/articles/s41... @warwicklifesci.bsky.social @loiccarrique.bsky.social @franziskaguenl.bsky.social

Stabilization of H5 highly pathogenic avian influenza hemagglutinin improves vaccine-elicited neutralizing antibody responses Transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza from H5 clade 2.3.4.4b has expanded in recent years to infect large populations of birds and mammals, heightening the risk of a human pandemic. Influe...

🚨 New paper alert! 🚨

Here we show that stabilized influenza hemagglutinin HPAI H5 immunogens improve the quality of elicited antibody responses. Thank you to @open_phil for funding this work! bit.ly/4lgr0rM

Preexisting immunity to the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus reduces susceptibility to H5N1 infection and disease in ferrets Prior infection with the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus confers protection against H5N1 infection and disease in ferrets.

Exciting new work from my @ciddpsu.bsky.social colleagues showing that pandemic H1N1 immunity reduces susceptibility to H5N1 infection and disease in ferrets.