Divya Venkatesh

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. 🧪🧬🥼🦠🔬😷🐓💉

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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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/...

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

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

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

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...

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.

“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 !!

English breakfast and coffee

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

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.

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...

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

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…

RNA xkcd.com/3056

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Closing this friday!

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Bird flu found in Arizona milk suggests another spillover from birds to cows Another spillover of the H5N1 bird flu virus from wild birds to dairy cattle appears to have occurred, this time in Arizona.

Because there's not enough going on: Arizona has found #H5N1 #birdflu in milk and it looks like yet another spillover from wild birds.
www.statnews.com/2025/02/14/a...

Tl;DR: 32 minutes - alternate hot and cool 8x. It's science! 🧪

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