Out today, a paradigm-shifting book on our biology by Roxanne Khamsi

Another example demonstrating that the federal science and research ecosystem is being seriously damaged regardless of what’s ultimately appropriated

Fascinating interview!

Avian flu detected in Idaho dairy cows as study explores role of virus RNA detection in bovine semen The milking cows were the first avian flu detections in cattle since a Wisconsin report in December 2025.

Bird flu confirmed on 5 Idaho dairy farms.
@cidrap.bsky.social
www.cidrap.umn.edu/avian-influe...

These Women Had Their Breasts Removed To Thwart Cancer. Then Came the Pain. - KFF Health News Post-mastectomy pain syndrome, or PMPS, is estimated to afflict tens of thousands of U.S. women each year. And yet it is not well understood and is inconsistently treated.

“Doctors act like it is so rare, like they’re so baffled,” says Sophia Bassan, who has post-mastectomy pain syndrome. “But this is statistically predictable.”

Brett Kelman & amymaxmen.bsky.social report ⤵️

U.S. scientists sequence 1,000 genomes from measles, a disease long eliminated with vaccines - The Sick Times This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted online its first large tranche of advanced genetic data from measles viruses spreading last year. Scientists with knowledge of the oper...

Today @thesicktimes.org: The CDC has started posting genetic data from measles cases, part of re-evaluating the U.S.'s long-held measles elimination status. We republished this piece from @amymaxmen.bsky.social at @kffhealthnews.org!
thesicktimes.org/2026/04/03/u...

Thank you!

US Scientists Sequence 1,000 Genomes From Measles, a Disease Long Eliminated With Vaccines - KFF Health News This week, the CDC began to publish long-awaited data that will reveal the extent of measles’ comeback. While applauding the science, researchers say the Trump administration has done little to contai...

Great story behind the story by @amymaxmen.bsky.social .

“I’m pro-science, but we shouldn’t have to do this,” said Theresa McCarthy Flynn, president of NC Pediatrics Society. “We don’t have to have a measles epidemic.”

RFK jr and his ilk have created a problem that doesn’t need to exist.

🎯Watch what they do, not what they say.

Also, note that CDC/NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, who everyone was thrilled said a nice thing about vaccines (because that is how bad things are now), is not actually using the powers of his office(s) to bring measles cases under control. This is causing suffering by choice.

Since I'm getting a questions about the new data - a few _preliminary_ comments:

1️⃣ Are the outbreaks in the US connected?
👉 Very likely.

2️⃣ Does this mean US will lose elimination status?
👉 Yes, but that's been clear for a while.

Data: nextstrain.org/measles/geno...

A few details + caveats 🧵👇

“We lost 27 staff and had to cancel over 20 of our community vaccination efforts, including to schools identified as having low vaccination rates,” he said. “There are simultaneous attacks on immunizations that are making our jobs harder.”

US Scientists Sequence 1,000 Genomes From Measles, a Disease Long Eliminated With Vaccines - KFF Health News This week, the CDC began to publish long-awaited data that will reveal the extent of measles’ comeback. While applauding the science, researchers say the Trump administration has done little to contai...

"This week, [CDC] posted online its first large tranche of advanced genetic data from measles viruses spreading last year. ...." - this could help assess measles elimination status. via @amymaxmen.bsky.social @kffhealthnews.org
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

HHS sent me a comment **this morning** standing by RFK Jr.'s assertion that medical authorities have ignored studies linking vaccines to autism.

That email, HHS in bold.

That's the kicker.

US Scientists Sequence 1,000 Genomes From Measles, a Disease Long Eliminated With Vaccines - KFF Health News This week, the CDC began to publish long-awaited data that will reveal the extent of measles’ comeback. While applauding the science, researchers say the Trump administration has done little to contai...

Every story has a quote left on the cutting room floor.
For this one, it's this:

Me: The U.S. has sequenced 1000 measles genomes from our outbreak.

Virologist @eddieholmes.bsky.social: "This is 2026! There shouldn't be 1000 measles genomes. That's disastrous."

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

US Scientists Sequence 1,000 Genomes From Measles, a Disease Long Eliminated With Vaccines - KFF Health News This week, the CDC began to publish long-awaited data that will reveal the extent of measles’ comeback. While applauding the science, researchers say the Trump administration has done little to contai...

NEWS: After an unexplained delay, the CDC has begun publicly releasing taxpayer-funded sequences of genomes from measles outbreaks. The data will help determine whether we've lost our status as a measles-free country.

By @amymaxmen.bsky.social

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

US Scientists Sequence 1,000 Genomes From Measles, a Disease Long Eliminated With Vaccines - KFF Health News This week, the CDC began to publish long-awaited data that will reveal the extent of measles’ comeback. While applauding the science, researchers say the Trump administration has done little to contai...

BIG: Measles genome sequencing can trace an outbreak. For months, CDC withheld the data from the public.

Great reporting from @amymaxmen.bsky.social

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

so wild. my baby got a dose of the MMR vaccine early as a precaution for *domestic* travel.

The question about losing status as a country that has eliminated measles has to do with the source of infections.

What we are looking for is repeated independent introductions from elsewhere vs “If there was continuous transmission for a year, that means the U.S. has lost its status”

“I think it’s incredibly important to do whole genome sequencing for outbreaks,” Andersen said, “but we shouldn’t need to do this for measles in the first place, because we have an extremely effective and safe vaccine.”

Some from Canada, but not lots. But even without that, the scientists I spoke with say there's enough signal in this data (including genomes that are sequenced but not yet released) to discern whether transmission was continuous.

US Scientists Sequence 1,000 Genomes From Measles, a Disease Long Eliminated With Vaccines - KFF Health News This week, the CDC began to publish long-awaited data that will reveal the extent of measles’ comeback. While applauding the science, researchers say the Trump administration has done little to contai...

🔔Exclusive: CDC just posted a tranche of genomic data from measles.

1,000 genomes have been sequenced, so researchers expect an answer to the elimination question within the month.

"That we're even talking about this is nuts," said @kgandersen.bsky.social

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Lab Leakers: "SARS-CoV-2 can't infect bats, so it must have been made in a lab".

Science: "Let's do the experiment".

SARS-CoV-2 behaves exactly like one would expect in a reservoir species - low-level infection, no overt disease, etc.

Elegant study from Sato Lab:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Trump’s Justice Department Dropped 23,000 Criminal Investigations in Shift to Immigration Under Attorney General Pam Bondi, the DOJ abandoned a record number of cases — including hundreds of investigations into terrorism, white-collar crime and drugs — in just the first six months of Presi...

NEW: Trump’s Justice Department Dropped 23,000 Criminal Investigations in Shift to Immigration, by @kbmorales.bsky.social and @davidarmstrongx.bsky.social

States Pay Deloitte, Others Millions To Comply With Trump Law To Cut Medicaid Rolls - KFF Health News The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will add red tape and restrictions for those seeking Medicaid and SNAP benefits. And the costs to update computer systems that determine eligibility for those programs w...

States are paying contractors millions to comply Trump's laws to cut food stamps & care.

"These benefits...can mean the difference between someone obtaining medical care & having enough to eat—or going without."

By @rachanadpradhan.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

SO excited about this new book. Roxanne Khamsi is one of the best science writers & the topic is fascinating.

Slow-Walking Back Into an AIDS Nightmare New cuts could result in the “first rise in HIV incidence in decades.”

States across the country are considering cuts to a program that covers about a quarter of the roughly 1.2 million people in the U.S. living with HIV. Tens of thousands could soon lose access to medication.

Two years after it emerged, ‘cow flu’ is still circulating—and baffling scientists Researchers still aren’t sure how H5N1 influenza spreads between cows and from farm to farm

H5N1 in dairy cows largely has disappeared from the news--a reflection of steeply declining detections. But it continues to circulate on dairies, and researchers continue to debate critical questions about how the virus moves between farms and within herds. www.science.org/content/arti...

Thank you!