Divya Venkatesh's Avatar

Divya Venkatesh

@divyav.bsky.social

Research Fellow @oxfordbiology.bsky.social · Viruses and their various hosts · Currently studying avian flu 🦠 in seals 🦭 · Miscellanea · Tangents off tangents

123 Followers  |  146 Following  |  47 Posts  |  Joined: 02.10.2023
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Posts by Divya Venkatesh (@divyav.bsky.social)

Perhaps there are more interesting things to put on shelves but I don't have them (or any space leftover)! But agree about a good long essay beating all that bloated non-fiction.

23.01.2026 11:16 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

I discovered Alice Munro years ago from a book presented to me by my then boyfriend (who asked me to please not hate him after reading it).

23.01.2026 11:16 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

No no no! I would not have found Leonora Carrington's delightful "The Hearing Trumpet" if I didn't aimlessly walk around a bookstore.

23.01.2026 11:16 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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@sacrozhangt.bsky.social and I wrote a commentary on Jordi van Gestel and Carol Gross's latest paper, check it out!

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Sadly, the Editors at PNAS rejected our initial introduction, which was a David Attenborough style voice over of the microbial Serengeti (included below)

13.11.2025 14:54 — 👍 75    🔁 19    💬 8    📌 2

🧪 Great to see more recognition for immunology of non-model organisms! Studies in livestock and wildlife will yield impactful insights for 𝘢𝘭𝘭 health 🦆🦭🚶‍♀️

#VeterinaryImmunology #OpenAccess #OneHealth

13.08.2025 07:44 — 👍 7    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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13th human case of #H5N1 in Cambodia this year:
6-year-old boy from Tbong Khmum province, confirmed on July 21. Exposure likely linked to sick and dead poultry. He is currently in intensive care. 🧪🧬🥼🦠🔬😷🐓💉

22.07.2025 12:26 — 👍 4    🔁 8    💬 2    📌 0
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Child hospitalised as bird flu cases climb in Cambodia Bird flu returns to Cambodia after decade-long lull.

🧪 This month, Cambodia reported its 12th human H5N1 bird flu case of the year - a worrying rise linked to a new strain spreading in the region. I write for the @uk.theconversation.com on what we know so far, and why better surveillance matters more than ever: theconversation.com/child-hospit...

20.07.2025 03:40 — 👍 21    🔁 9    💬 0    📌 1
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Co-circulation of distinct high pathogenicity avian influenza virus (HPAIV) subtypes in a mass mortality event in wild seabirds and co-location with dead seals H5Nx clade 2.3.4.4b high pathogenicity avian influenza viruses (HPAIV) have been detected repeatedly in Great Britain (GB) since autumn 2020, with H5N1 dominating detections but with low level detecti...

🧪 Earlier this year, two highly pathogenic bird flu viruses: H5N1 and H5N5, both from the 2.3.4.4b panzootic lineage, were linked to a seabird die-off in the UK. Notably, H5N5 was also found in dead seals at the same time. Read more in the preprint from APHA: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

19.07.2025 18:32 — 👍 9    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0
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Child hospitalised as bird flu cases climb in Cambodia Bird flu returns to Cambodia after decade-long lull.

"A troubling pattern is also emerging: seven of this year’s cases occurred in June alone."

New from @divyav.bsky.social in @uk.theconversation.com on how after almost a decade without bird flu cases in Cambodia, cases of the virus have been steadily climbing 👇
theconversation.com/child-hospit...

10.07.2025 13:25 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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Child hospitalised as bird flu cases climb in Cambodia Bird flu returns to Cambodia after decade-long lull.

Cambodia just reported its 12th human H5N1 bird flu case of the year - a worrying rise linked to a new strain spreading in the region. I write for the @uk.theconversation.com on what we know so far, and why better surveillance matters more than ever: theconversation.com/child-hospit...

11.07.2025 04:26 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

incredible new opportunity to interact and download data on seals accross the UK. amazing work by @seamammalresearch.bsky.social

20.06.2025 09:51 — 👍 4    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

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12.06.2025 15:54 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Indonesia’s stunning microlibraries draw young readers – in pictures Using passive design and local materials such as ice cream buckets, these modern community spaces offer a respite from urban heat and hustle

For some reason these microlibraries remind me of Oodi in Helsinki--which is huge, but also very inviting: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

02.06.2025 20:25 — 👍 0    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

This is terrible news, HMMER & Infernal are at the heart of DBs like Pfam, Rfam & Dfam. And vital pipelines such as AlphaFold.

29.05.2025 07:00 — 👍 40    🔁 20    💬 2    📌 0
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EVE Meeting Expression of Interest

I'm thinking of organising a meeting on endogenous viral elements (RNA, DNA and retroviral) - if you'd potentially be interested, please fill out the form here - forms.gle/wrCiWMw4yXZe... - so I can gauge interest. Please RT or share with anyone maybe interested! 🧪🧬🖥️🦠 #virology #bioinformatics

27.05.2025 11:53 — 👍 14    🔁 21    💬 1    📌 3

“Conserved domain of unknown function” feeling some feelings about my protist days

15.04.2025 12:08 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Antiviral Chewing Gum Might Revolutionize How We Tackle Infectious Diseases Learn why lowering the viral load in the mouth could be a game-changer in fighting viruses like herpes, bird flu, and more.

I thought it was a joke but it's not. There's an actual study. Researchers at Penn & Finland engineered gum with antiviral bean proteins that ⬇️ viral load in the mouth the main site of replication for many viruses, including SarsCov2, HSV-1 &2, & influenza.
www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences...

10.04.2025 16:02 — 👍 390    🔁 139    💬 11    📌 19

Can't access the paper but... I wonder how much of this is a COVID thing, and how much it is a general viral infection/response to virus/vaccine thing - maybe understanding triggers for viral reactivation can shed light on clinical phenomena we still don't have explanations for.

04.04.2025 10:44 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
“Beauty UFO” where it appears that a green alien enters and a blond girl exits

“Beauty UFO” where it appears that a green alien enters and a blond girl exits

Ufff this cosmetics brand advert at the children’s hospital waiting room !!

01.04.2025 09:43 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
English breakfast and coffee

English breakfast and coffee

What’s better way to start the day than a food coma? It’s nice to be back.

21.03.2025 09:02 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Kay Russo on LinkedIn: The impact of influenza A H5N1 virus infection in dairy cows #H5 Flu news, courtesy of RSM Consulting THIS PUBLICATION IS A MUST READ FOR CATTLE FOLKS. https://lnkd.in/gUzbRKkU High level: this disease costs money…

Interesting note on implications from the post citing Kay Russo www.linkedin.com/posts/kay-ru...: 28 million layers were lost to spillover from cattle last year, compared to 14 million from migratory waterfowl point source introductions. So 2/3 of the layer cases were due to cows last year.

11.03.2025 16:57 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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One Year Later-"It Has Been Determined" that Retrospective Infected Dairy Herd Serology can be Disclosed As widely suspected, H5N1 infection in dairy herds spreads widely in both lactating and non-lactating animals, most likely by classical influenza oronasal routes

One Year Later-"It Has Been Determined" that Retrospective Infected Dairy Herd Serology can be Disclosed
open.substack.com/pub/hogvet51...

11.03.2025 16:31 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Katiaaa! Yes indeed you too, wish the times were better… hope you’re well ♥️

07.03.2025 20:40 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
Photo of a crustless quiche

Photo of a crustless quiche

Crustless quiche! Forgot the ready-made pastry.

Because I cannot cook AND help two children resolve their respective urgent! life-and-death situations at the same time…

06.03.2025 22:11 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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RNA xkcd.com/3056

26.02.2025 14:58 — 👍 17852    🔁 2559    💬 154    📌 171

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22.02.2025 17:04 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

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21.02.2025 10:44 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

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21.02.2025 10:39 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

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20.02.2025 10:55 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Closing this friday!

17.02.2025 17:43 — 👍 6    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0