Important thread from @PiratePeel. Open dialogue and transparency are vital for all societies as we work to address longstanding problems with diversity, inclusion, and equity. Communication is hard. We’re isolated & stressed. But pulling together now could not be more important.
I’ve been impressed with the effort and engagement from the @netscisociety leadership and @netsci2020 organizers.
But we have a long way to go and a diverse, international community of scholars that are struggling to navigate myriad difficulties. Not to mention COVID.
It matters that @PiratePeel and others are speaking up. And we also know the society leadership cares, is listening, and is working towards the same goals.
We can and must become more inclusive, diverse, and equitable scientific communities. ❤️❤️❤️
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2/ For those following #H5N1 in CA, there have been positive farms there since late Aug.
@globaldothealth we're working w/ @ThinkGlobalHlth and @CFR_org to maintain a timeline of key events. This tracking allows us to better piece together signals. thinkglobalhealth.org/article/timeli…
3/ I'm concerned about the H5 wastewater signal because it lags far behind the uptick in farms and is better correlated with the rapid rise in human infections. thinkglobalhealth.org/article/timeli…
2/ Milk is pasteurized by heating it briefly to ~72 C (161F). This inactivates pathogens, but does filter the milk. As a result, there can be degraded genomic material from pathogens following pasteurization. PCR, as was done by the FDA, can detect these degraded genomes.
3/ Numerous peer-reviewed studies have found that pasteurization will inactivate influenza A virus, including #H5N1. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
2/ As you may know, avian influenza doesn't readily infect humans (and doesn't transmit well from human-to-human) in part because of subtle differences in key cell surface receptors. journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.11…
3/ However, our eyes actually contain the bird-flu-friendly confirmation of the cell surface receptor. This is why eye inflammation is often a symptom of avian influenza infection in humans. thelancet.com/journals/lanin…
2/ Following a convening of @RockefellerFdn's Global Wastewater Action Group, we partnered w/ @MathematicaNow and surveyed representatives of wastewater monitoring programs in 43 countries (16 LMICs, 27 HICs) spanning six continents (when I said "all" I didn't count Antartica).
3/ In high-income countries, composite sampling at centralized treatment plants was most common, whereas grab sampling from surface waters, open drains, and pit latrines was more typical in low-income and middle-income countries.
1/ Data from @WastewaterSCAN shows that rates of SARS-CoV-2, RSV, and influenza have dropped precipitously from their winter peaks!
We still have a ways to go, but things are clearly headed in the right direction.
2/ Although for SARS-CoV-2 we've been hovering at peak levels for over a month and we need to see at least another month of continuously falling prevalence before we're back to more "baseline" levels.
3/ And note how *LONG* the RSV outbreak has been in the US.
We've been above 25% of the peak height for >3 months!