Josh Levy

Please please read this from the archbishop of Chicago

www.archchicago.org/statement/-/...

The point is to destroy the administrative state, centers of knowledge and all civic institutions that stand in the way of Russell Vought’s vision of an authoritarian theocracy. It sounds insane and something out of Atwood. But this is where we are. Under his eye.

This week's cover @thelancet.com

Federal funding for US biomedical research is moribund.

Since October 1 2025, NIH is -80% in new grants and -70% in values (total dollars).

Labs are closing down and researchers are leaving science.

To what end?

This was a huge team effort across NICD, University of Birmingham, and Scripps. Lots of exciting wastewater surveillance work from our team to come!

And here's another link to the preprint :) www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

Together, it's clear wastewater-integrated whole-genome surveillance can:

1. Expand coverage
2. Improve lineage/genotype tracking
3. Reveal hidden transmission
4. Support elimination programs

while using scalable, low-cost approaches (and not only for measles!)

Perhaps most importantly, we compared our results with a standard N450 sequencing approach, and found that whole genome sequencing more accurately recovered country-specific clustering, transmission links, and overall better represented evolutionary dynamics.

We also found three distinct D8 genotype outbreak clusters, again identifying new potential transmission links.

Because samples had so little virus diversity, we were able to recover sequences directly from wastewater and incorporate them into our phylogenetic analyses. This identified one large genotype B3 clade, that shows ongoing transmission in Gauteng and interprovincial spread.

We then investigated measles spread and timing across multiple scales in Gauteng province, including WWTPs to "upstream" sub-catchments, markedly increasing the available resolution and population coverage of measles surveillance

To investigate the specific measles genotypes driving the detected outbreaks, we turned to whole-genome sequencing and performed analyses using our Freyja tool.

We found that most wastewater samples were not mixtures of genotypes, but genotype prevalence estimates closely tracked clinical.

But a rubella outbreak in late 2024 led to changing testing policies that impacted the reliability of clinical test positivity as a predictor of burden

And found that at the district level, wastewater test positivity were a strong correlate of cases

Closely collaborating with our awesome Modjadji initiative partners at the NICD in South Africa and @scalene.bsky.social and team in the UK, we deployed measles wastewater surveillance across South Africa from Jan 2024- Aug 2025

Measles cases are resurging globally, but genomic surveillance at the global scale is sparse. In our new preprint, we show wastewater can provide population-level and low-cost data on virus spread and evolution.

See @kgandersen.bsky.social's post for a high level summary, more detail here though!🧵

Opinion | The Human Cost of Trump’s War on Science

This piece by @jeneeninterlandi.bsky.social is one for the ages. The damage Donald Trump (under the guidance of Russell Vought) has done to biomedical research is profound and will be long-lasting. It is a national tragedy to be measured in the sick and the dead. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/o...

Measles Can Change Your Brain I didn’t know why I had been hospitalized, but it was greeted as something of a miracle that I knew and could spell my own name.

Measles is no joke. Focusing only on when it's fatal obscures the range of lasting harms that come from this disease.

www.voicesforvaccines.org/measles-can-...

Moderna says FDA refuses its application for new mRNA flu vaccine The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is refusing to consider Moderna’s application for a new flu vaccine made with mRNA technology.

It is absolutely outrageous that Moderna’s flu vaccine was met with a “refusal-to-file” even after their approved their protocol with FDA and carried out the trial as agreed. This vaccine works better in older adults than the current flu vaccines.

apnews.com/article/mode...

This week marks a year since 10% of the CDC work force was fired. We are more vulnerable to the next pandemic,outbreak monitoring is crumbling, measles is basically endemic again,vaccine guidelines are now RFK Jr fan fiction.
All it took was one year.

Stop drinking raw milk! Full STOP!

people.com/raw-milk-out...

Measles was eliminated in 2000. Now? Back in 43 states. Not because science failed, but because leaders chose lies over public health. Vaccines work. Misinformation kills. A preventable disease is returning, and accountability matters.

Stay informed. Follow @saveamericamvmt.bsky.social for more.

Here is his co author admitting they got everything wrong.

youtu.be/-QibLarUULUdd

Stand Up for Science: March 7th, 2026 — STAND UP FOR SCIENCE

Normalizing anti-science grifters is a dangerous path. We have to do what we can to call it out! If you're looking to take action, we got you covered!

RALLY TO TAKE BACK SCIENCE! 🔬🧪✊
March 7th, 2026 in Washington, DC

Learn more at standupforscience.net/march7

#Standupforscience

There is a cost to science denial.

ACIP CHAIR’S COMMENTS — The head of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s panel of independent vaccine advisers recently questioned the necessity of the polio vaccine — spurring a sharp backlash from Democrats and public health experts. “As you look at polio, we need to not be afraid to consider that we are in a different time now than we were then,” said Kirk Milhoan, chair of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, on the podcast “Why Should I Trust You?” “Our sanitation is different, our risk of disease is different, and so those all play into the evaluation of whether this is worthwhile of taking a risk for a vaccine or not,” Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist and a senior fellow at the anti-mRNA Independent Medical Alliance, added. Milhoan also said that “we have to take into account” whether the U.S. is enjoying herd immunity, and whether the disease burden could go up “if we take away all of the herd immunity.” Key context: Before the polio vaccine became available in 1955, roughly 16,000 polio cases occurred each year in the U.S., often paralyzing children. If polio vaccination rates dip, the U.S. could see the return of a disease that once caused widespread fear in America, critics of Kennedy’s advisory panel warn.

We can't believe we have to say this, but POLIO IS REALLY BAD.

RFK Jr.'s "independent" "expert" ACIP is destroying the foundations of our public health system.

It cannot be clearer: if we want to save lives, we have to #RemoveRFKJr.

Take action now: standupforscience.net/impeach-rfkjr

This is absolutely what the video shows. A person is wrestled to the ground by 6 ICE agents and then executed at point blank range.

Live: Man shot by federal agent in south Minneapolis this morning, witnesses say A video appears to shows federal agents wrestling a man to the ground then shooting him.

No one wants to see these videos; and you don't HAVE to look.

But we need to know what is happening - for many reasons:

www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...

Genomic Surveillance and Pathogen Data Sharing: A New Era for Scientific Diplomacy, Virtual Fireside Chat Genomic Surveillance and Pathogen Data Sharing: A New Era for Scientific Diplomacy, Virtual Fireside Chat featuring Belfer Center Fellow Dr. Syra Madad and Dr. Kristian Andersen, Director of Infectiou...

Kicking off in a little over an hour.

With the US officially having cut ties with the WHO today, this topic is more relevant than ever. What role will the US play moving forward? What role, with the PABS framework still being work out, WHO play?

www.belfercenter.org/event/genomi...

Carney is bluntly telling the world, and Americans, that the post WW2 order is gone and America is left behind.