Category: Transmission
Emma Hodcroft analyses the XBB recombinant variant
This is one of those very rare occasions when an entire Twitter thread is worth republishing as it answers so many common questions. More...
Another Covid outbreak in Antarctica
You might have thought that visiting the pristine environment of Antarctica would require some of the strongest biosafety security measures for visitors on Earth, wouldn’t you? More...
Kenya: Beta-like SARS-CoV-2 variant found >1 yr after disappearance
A preprint out today gives details of a Beta-like SARS-CoV-2 variant with additional mutations recently found in Kenya. More...
Japan: new Covid wave begins with BF.5 as leading variant again
Japan is seeing a new wave of coronavirus rolling in, just weeks after the last devastating wave tailed off. More...
BF.7: Another contender for global domination
The XBB and BQ.1 variants have recently been making headlines, but another SARS-CoV-2 variant, BF.7 has been closely tracking their success across the globe. More...
Cases of Ebola in Kampala rise to fourteen *1 Update*
The Monitor newspaper is reporting that Ebola cases in Kampala, Uganda have risen to 14. More...
Coinfection with influenza and RSV creates a new type of virus pathogen
An article in Nature Microbiology describes how a coinfection of influenza A and RSV can create never before seen hybrid virus particles. More...
Preprint: SARS-CoV-2 may have originated as an infectious clone assembled in vitro
A new preprint out today finds that SARS-COV-2 has “a synthetic fingerprint unlikely to have evolved from its close relatives.” More...
WHO: There may be more chains of Ebola transmission *1 Update*
“The Ministry of Health is investigating the most recent eight cases, as initial reports indicate they were not among known contacts.” More...
Chimeric SARS-CoV-2 variant with a mortality rate of 80% *5 Updates*
Boston University scientists undertake a gain of function experiment and create a chimeric recombinant SARS-CoV-2 virus with 80% mortality rate in mice. More...