Practical, Innovative, Hyper-focused on saving lives. Immunologist, Virologist, Pandemic Nemesis. Posts are mine.
Washington, DC
Joined January 2017
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Rick Bright retweeted
The organization sponsoring the unethical study championed @SecKennedy in Guinea-Bissau was raided. Exploitation of the vulnerable for personal gain.
theguardian.com/world/2026/o…
Rick Bright retweeted
NEW: how a global ethics outcry, @EnergyCommerce demand for answers, resignations from a Danish ethics board, sustained reporting from @RollingStone + other news outlets, ended @SecKennedy's plan to fund 1 of most controversial clinical trials in memory rollingstone.com/politics/po…
Rick Bright retweeted
BREAKING: controversial hep B vax clinical trial in Guinea-Bissau, funded by CDC $$ + marred by ethics failings @RollingStone exposed in 4 detailed stories, w/ internal CDC records, will not move forward, one of the Danish researchers announced today: linkedin.com/pulse/missed-op…
Rick Bright retweeted
study by Danish researchers, called unethical by @WHO @DrPaulOffit others, had been halted by 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸.
SDU health sciences dean Jacob Grauslund confirms: he gave researchers go-ahead 4 study today: rollingstone.com/politics/po… /2
Rick Bright retweeted
SCOOP 🚨in @RollingStone 🧵👇
@CDCgov has set aside new $1.6M for controversial hepatitis B vax clinical trial in Guinea-Bissau, revived by politicos in CDC director's office.
Despite plague/Ebola fears, the $ is being pulled from CDC global health security funds. The /1
Rick Bright retweeted
There is no basis to assume the strain is antibiotic-susceptible.
There also is no basis to assume the strain is human-immune-response-susceptible.
The death of a treated and previously vaccinated bioweapons-agents researcher argues against those assumptions.
“Russian authorities have surely sequenced the Irkutsk pathogen, but refuse to identify it," he continued. "Physical lockdown indicates it cannot be controlled with prophylactic antibiotics, implying engineered pan-resistance or that it isn't plague at all."
thedailybeast.com/top-scient…
Rick Bright retweeted
If you want some insight into why H1N1 is increasing early in USA this year, try excellent Bloom Lab paper below
Describes rising star D.3.1.1 (already popular D.3.1 plus HA1: R113K, A139D, E283K, K302E)
H3N2 (K) also innovating Site D
@famulare_mike
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/article…
Rick Bright retweeted
#Cambodia has confirmed its sixth human #H5N1 case of 2026: a 49-year-old man in Oddar Meanchey who had contact with sick and dead chickens. He is receiving care. Chickens on the farm also tested positive. #avianflu #influenza #OneHealth
Rick Bright retweeted
First U.S. H5N1 outbreak in farmed mink.
Utah farm expecting 80% dead.
Officials skipped quarantine because they “had no idea” what the release criteria would be.
Rick Bright retweeted
🚨🎲🎲Watch them die’: Bird flu is ravaging a Utah mink farm, killing 80% of the herd. State agriculture officials have no clear plan.
It’s the first documented outbreak of bird flu in captive mink in the U.S., and an advocacy group is raising concerns about Utah’s response.
Officials initially sought vaccination, but as one wrote, “I might need some pressure higher up in USDA to get movement.”
Rick Bright retweeted
Mink farming is a massive pandemic risk. It's insane that they are allowed to exist. Now we have an active H5N1 outbreak on a mink farm, & "state officials have no clear plan to rein it in."
Imagine if uncontrolled H5N1 transmission in mink were allowed in a lab... 1/4
There's an active H5N1 outbreak on a mink farm in Utah and no one is doing much about it:
sltrib.com/news/2026/09/27/a…
This seems under-reported. I think it illustrates the danger of the virus, the need for more institutional competence, and the comparative risks of farms vs virology
Rick Bright retweeted
Yes, there are a few possibilities here and we do have more than a few questions. This would be an ideal time for WHO to issue a detailed DON.
- Were these men, said to have been working in the DRC, working with or around Ebola patients?
- Were these men working in an Ebola outbreak area or in two separate areas?
- Were these Indian men working in areas that were *not* clear cut Ebola outbreak areas?
- Is anyone in the DRC doing surveillance sampling & testing of completely asymptomatic individuals in urban areas? In outbreak areas?
- Is there any possibility of a false positive from the airport tests? Two of them?
Rick Bright retweeted
BOTh non-symptomatic is a bit of a surprise?
Will be very curious to see if they are in fact PRE-symptomatic...or even false positives
Truly *asymptomatic* Ebola NOT on my bingo card!
And would be PROBLEM in its own right for controlling spread
Not everyone is testing!
Rick Bright retweeted
FDA is back with more troubling photos from an Indian pharmaceutical facility inspection conducted in April (a different facility than my last post).
I think my tool shed is cleaner than this drug manufacturer...
fda.gov/inspections-complian…
Rick Bright retweeted
Here is a link to slides I will present today at Options XIII Conference for Control of Influenza meeting: slides.com/jbloom/options202…
Slides describe using sequencing-based neutralization assays to characterize human neutralizing antibody landscape to seasonal influenza virus in near real time.
Measurements are informative for vaccine strain choice.
Our latest data from last few weeks identifies emerging variants of seasonal H3N2 & H1N1 to which current human sera has reduced titers. These include H3N2 subclade K variants w V223I, and H1N1 subclade D.3.1.1 variants including w G155E.
All raw data along with interactive visualizations are available at links in the slides. The section on our latest unpublished data starts on slide 19.
Rick Bright retweeted
Reckon sub-clade D.3.1.1 of seasonal H1N1 is going to enter our layperson lexicon this Autumn in sinilar (but lesser) way that sub-Clade K of H3N2 did last year!
Here is a link to slides I will present today at Options XIII Conference for Control of Influenza meeting: slides.com/jbloom/options202…
Slides describe using sequencing-based neutralization assays to characterize human neutralizing antibody landscape to seasonal influenza virus in near real time.
Measurements are informative for vaccine strain choice.
Our latest data from last few weeks identifies emerging variants of seasonal H3N2 & H1N1 to which current human sera has reduced titers. These include H3N2 subclade K variants w V223I, and H1N1 subclade D.3.1.1 variants including w G155E.
All raw data along with interactive visualizations are available at links in the slides. The section on our latest unpublished data starts on slide 19.
Leadership & Compassion
@DollyParton
“Don’t be such a chicken squat. Get out there and get your shot.” -- Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton didn't just use her voice to encourage vaccination, she helped support the science behind it.
In April 2020, Dolly donated US$1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for COVID-19 research, creating the Dolly Parton COVID-19 Research Fund. The fund supported researchers involved in the early testing of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine.
Then, in March 2021, she rolled up her own sleeve at Vanderbilt to receive the Moderna vaccine herself, using the moment to encourage others to get vaccinated too.
Today we remember Dolly not only for the joy she brought to millions, but for the role she played in advancing vaccine research and encouraging others to get protected.
Rick Bright retweeted
Such a beautiful version.
We love you @DollyParton
music.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc…
