Too perfect 🤦🏻‍♂️

The Call Came From Inside: Epstein–Barr virus and the biology of persistence SummaryEpstein–Barr virus is one of the most common infections in the world—by adulthood, nearly 95% of people carry it. Most remember it, if at all, as “just mono.” A brief illness. A recovery. The e...

“Mono” isn’t the end of the story.

Epstein–Barr virus stays with you for life—inside your immune system.

🎧 New episode now live
infectiousdose.com/post/call-ca...

#InfectiousDose #EBV

Post a pic you took, no context, bring zen to this hellscape of a timeline.

We Need to Prepare for the Mammoth Task of De-Trumpification The damage he and his cronies have wrought could take decades to repair, particularly when it comes to science and public health.

The task of de-Trumpification of science and public health will take a generation and a "Marshall Plan" to rebuild. Without a bold, expansive vision to guide us, there is no coming back. Small-bore, poll-tested versions of the future will not help us. www.thenation.com/article/soci...

I get why it feels that way—2020 changed how we read these signals.

The good news on that front is that what we’re seeing here is a small, localized cluster without signs of sustained spread. That’s a different pattern than something expanding.

Field Notes Issue #2 comes out tomorrow (it's free).
Remember to confirm sign-up via the email or you won't be signed up.

And if you have questions or topic requests, send em my way by replying to the newsletter email. I read them all even if it takes me a minute to respond.

Special Briefing: Advancing Africa's Health Security & Sovereignty Agenda | April 16, 2026 YouTube video by Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention

And here's the situation briefing from Africa CDC
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lJg...

Burundi investigates illness that has caused five deaths The health authorities in Burundi, with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), are carrying out investigations to determine the cause of an illness that has led to five deaths and sickened ...

This one is still unfolding.

Samples are being sent for further analysis, including metagenomic testing.

I’m very curious to see what this turns out to be.
www.afro.who.int/countries/bu...

We tend to look for familiar patterns:
a known pathogen, a known transmission route

But early in an investigation, those patterns aren’t always there.

Cases appear clustered within households and close contacts.

That could suggest infection.

But investigators are also looking at environmental and exposure-related causes.

The reported symptoms are severe:
fever, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, abdominal pain

And in some cases:
jaundice, anemia, and dark urine

So far, lab testing has ruled out the major viral causes we usually worry about in cases like this.

Which leaves a harder question:

What is it?

Health officials in Burundi are investigating a cluster of severe illness—
several people have died.
At first, it looked like a hemorrhagic fever.

But it's not Ebola.

or Marburg.

or Rift Valley fever, yellow fever, or Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. 🧵

There’s a virus you probably already have.
Not a rare one. Not one you were warned about.
By adulthood, about 95% of people carry it.
Most think it’s gone.

It isn’t.

🎧 New episode drops Tuesday at midnight CST.
#InfectiousDose #EpsteinBarr

Field Notes | Infectious Dose

It’s free, once a week, and you’ll get the latest issue as soon as you sign up.

You can read + subscribe here: infectiousdose.com/field-notes

Let me know what you think and if there are ever any threads you're interested in following.

It’s not a recap.
Each issue is short and structured:
– One idea, slowed down (In the Margins)
– What I’m watching next (Underlined)
– A quick note from behind the scenes (Postscript)

It comes out alongside the podcast each week—
like a second layer to the episode.

Logo of Field Notes the Infectiou Dose Newsletter. BAckground looks like a page of an old weathered notebook with the words, "Field Notes" scrawled across the front. The infectious Dose logo is below that and between them is a tagline, "What stayed with me after the episode"

Each week, after I finish an episode, there’s always at least one idea I can’t let go of.
Not the headline. Not the story.
Something underneath it.

So I started a short, free weekly newsletter to follow that thread a little further.

It’s called Field Notes.
#InfectiousDose

Field Notes | Infectious Dose

Also launching with this episode—Field Notes (it's free).

Each week, I take one idea from the episode and follow it a little further.

Not to repeat the science, but to see what it opens up.

Issue #1 goes out this morning.

Subscribe here → infectiousdose.com/field-notes

Scratching the Surface: How We Miss Murine Typhus Murine typhus is a flea-borne infection often missed due to nonspecific symptoms and subtle presentation. This episode explores its transmission, urban ecology, and why infections that don’t fit expec...

New Episode: Scratching the Surface, is live.

This week: a look at a disease ticking up in LA. All about murine typhus and how we miss it.

🎧 Listen here → www.infectiousdose.com/post/murine-...

#InfectiousDose #Typhus

Field Notes | Infectious Dose

It's free and the first issue goes out with this week’s episode. Sign up on my website:
infectiousdose.com/field-notes

I’m starting a weekly companion called Field Notes.

The episode is the full story.

Field Notes is where I slow down and stay with a single piece of it a little longer. Not a recap. A continuation of the conversation.

🎙️A new episode of #InfectiousDose drops Tuesday at midnight.

This one looks at why typhus is showing up again—and why the story has changed.

There’s also something new coming with it.
👇

I’m no expert on this shit, but I’ve been advised not to go on the Wh website.
It appears they may have the same shit as in China. A CIA friend told me to get a cheap used computer and not to put anything on it that is at all personal or confidential bcz they download it all within seconds of

I can get it for you in the morning if that’s ok. I’m too tired to get out of bed right now and I have to use my computer to access it.

Public health is a process of researching and implementing strategies. The body of knowledge that has been built up over decades—even centuries—has been blithely tossed aside by a delusional lawyer with a famous name.

When you discard science in favor of beliefs, it’s garbage in, garbage out.

I can't. Made an appt w/ gyn for well-woman exam & consult on meno. Was told (today) can't get a WW exam bc "a WW exam states you are well"
🤦 😶

I know what she meant... can't combine visits... But JFC that "logic". & it's now 6 & 8 more months to wait.
At least I typed & deleted my angry responses

I've just been asked to share this petition to UCSF, which asks them not to put Vinay Prasad back in his old position, now that HHS has given him the boot.

It seems a good ask, so here you go (the guy is awful):

form.jotform.com/260836126659...

What she said. 😁

It’s funny…I started making notes about stuff that didn’t make it into episodes and it occurred to me other people might be interested so here we are. I’m thrilled you signed up!!! 😁

Yay!!! Woohoo!!! 🎉 thank you so much!