Italy confirms first European human H9N2 avian flu case The first human case of H9N2 avian flu in Europe has been detected in Italy in a person who travelled from outside the continent.

www.euronews.com/health/2026/...

Cryo-EM structure reveals how influenza A virus NEP binds the viral polymerase at a regulatory hotspot, coordinating RNA synthesis and nuclear export. Fantastic collaboration with @loiccarrique.bsky.social and Jon Grimes. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A flurry of snowflakes with text reading 'Virus Snowflakes: a collection of paper art viruses by Ed Hutchinson - Download now!' along with the logo of the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research

If you'd like to celebrate the biology of viruses - or the fight against viral diseases - this winter, try out our free and updated #VirusSnowflake designs.
Please share, and if you have any photos of Virus Snowflakes in your area it would be lovely to see them!
cvr-engagement.co.uk/virus-snowfl...

The Real Subtypes of the 2025 Flu Season Have you ever been to a party where you sensed the messiness before it happened?

I've got a bad feeling about the upcoming flu season, given the fact that there are a bunch of subtypes at this party with the potential to wreak varying amounts of havoc. So I broke it all down here.
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...

More than a miracle Pandemic preparedness is as essential as ever, argues a journalist

I had a great time reviewing @cohenjon.bsky.social 's fascinating new book, Planning Miracles. It's a good time to shine a light on why pandemic preparedness is in our own best interest. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Really happy to see this out, and delighted to be part of such a nice project! CCHFV is a growing viral threat and understanding how it's L-protein works is massively important for developing strategies to counteract it.

High-throughput single-virion DNA-PAINT reveals structural diversity, cooperativity, and flexibility during selective packaging in influenza Abstract. Influenza A, a negative-sense RNA virus, has a genome that consists of eight single-stranded RNA segments. Influenza co-infections can result in

Our work on influenza genome packaging using high-throughput single-virion DNA-PAINT is out in NAR! Packaging appears structurally diverse and flexible. Big thanks to Christoff & Qing (amazing effort)! A collab with @efodor.bsky.social, @nicolerobb.bsky.social academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

A banner in a Charles Rennie Mackintosh style showing and influenza virion and reading 'Influenza Update Meeting'

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
Influenza Update 2025
University of Warwick, 15th - 16th December
warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/med/...
Registration from £50 - £120
DEADLINE: 7th November
We hope you can join us there!

Excited to announce our latest preprint, exploring the stereochemistry & antiviral properties of natural product MM46115 (pellemicin) against influenza. 🦠 💊 Big thanks to all co authors, including @afifahtasnim.bsky.social @craigpthomp.bsky.social and others. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

I am very excited to share our preprint: ‘Divergent antibody-mediated population immunity to H5, H7 and H9 subtype potential pandemic influenza viruses’.

The first authors are Lucas Benjamin Stolle, Jai Bolton, Rebecca Steventon & Reanna Gregory.

lnkd.in/eeYmfvdE

A single shot of a flu drug could outperform vaccines—and protect for an entire season One injection of a long-lasting drug showed up to 76% efficacy in a large trial

“This is one of the most exciting recent advances for influenza prevention." www.science.org/content/arti...

Why do influenza viruses come in different shapes and sizes? Check out our latest review article unpacking the determinants and impact of pleomorphism on the influenza virus life cycle: journals.asm.org/eprint/UFECH...

A beautiful figure. Global detections of A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b in mammalian species, split by sporadic detections (black) and detections which are associated with an outbreak (orange) alongside key mammalian adaptive mutations. Taken from Capelastegui & Goldhill 2025.

Excited to present the first review from my lab!
Which mutations allow H5 influenza to jump into humans or other mammals? How close is H5 to a pandemic? This review has the answers and explains the molecular mechanism behind the mutations.
Led by @fcapelastegui.bsky.social.
doi.org/10.1099/jgv....

An art-deco inspired logo reading 'Influenza Update Meeting' in a Charles Rennie Mackintosh format

SAVE THE DATE!
The 2025 Influenza Update Meeting will be held ‪@uni-of-warwick.bsky.social on the 15th and 16th December - ‪@nicolerobb.bsky.social‬ is leading the organisation for this year's event.
We hope you'll join us there - please repost!
www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/...

Molecular basis of influenza ribonucleoprotein complex assembly and processive RNA synthesis Influenza viruses replicate and transcribe their genome in the context of a conserved ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex. By integrating cryo–electron microscopy single-particle analysis and cryo–electro...

Excited to share our new @science.org paper! Led by postdocs Ruchao Peng and Xin Xu, we used cryo-EM/ET to reveal the influenza ribonucleoprotein complex structure and its strand-sliding mechanism for RNA synthesis, paving the way for new antivirals.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Exciting job opportunities!

Two postdoc positions are available in the Fodor Lab at
@dunnschool.bsky.social to study influenza virus transcription, genome replication, nuclear export and assembly.

More info: my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

Thrilled to share that our latest manuscript using smFRET to study inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 is now out!

doi.org/10.1093/nar/...

Congrats and thanks to amazing co-authors and collaborators for all the hard work. @efodor.bsky.social @jeremykeown.bsky.social @andrewmcmahon1345.bsky.social

Massive congratulations to Dani from the lab who passed her PhD viva yesterday! Special thanks to her wonderful co-supervisor @efodor.bsky.social, to her examiners @davidlvbauer.bsky.social and @jeremykeown.bsky.social and to the Warwick MRC-DTP for funding her PhD! 🦠🎓🎂

Not one, but TWO, poster prizes for the lab at this year's Microbiology Society meeting in Liverpool!! Super proud of Afifah Tasnim and Luke Haddock, well done both! 😀

Huge congratulations to Nicolas Shiaelis on successfully passing his DPhil viva! What an incredible milestone. A special thank you to the examiners for their valuable feedback and thoughtful assessment and to members of the @achilleskap.bsky.social lab for the amazing hat! 🎓🦠🎉

Negative-Strand RNA Virus meeting #NSV2025 registration is now open!
Visit www.negativestrandvirus.org/home

A DNA-PAINT protocol for the segment-specific detection of viral vRNPs. Virus particles are surface-immobilized, fixed, permeabilized and incubated with non-fluorescent barcoded probes, that bind to 20-50 different sequences on a viral RNA segment. All probes carry the same segment-specific oligonucleotide extension that is transiently bound by fluorescent imager strands. Several combinations of barcode extensions and imager strands can be used to sequentially to detect various gene segments in a single virus particle.

First BlueSky post + a breath of fresh air! Excited about our preprint on the packaging + structure of viral RNA segments in influenza virions: doi.org/10.1101/2025.... A saga from amazing Christof and Qing, and a great collaboration with @nicolerobb.bsky.social and @efodor.bsky.social.

Happy to be part of this beautiful work using DNA-PAINT to study genome packaging in influenza 😊thanks to all co-authors @efodor.bsky.social & Christof, Achilles and Qing! Check it out here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Incredible few days at the @lorneproteins.bsky.social conference, great science, great scenery and of course, great fun! Thanks to the organisers for a super meeting, definitely looking forward to visiting again in the future

Age of the panzootic: scientists warn of more devastating diseases jumping between species Experts believe H5N1 bird flu belongs in a growing category of infectious diseases that can cause pandemics across many species. But there are ways to reduce the risks

“It is really hard for infectious diseases to effectively stop being specialists and move over into a new species. So, when that happens, it is striking and concerning” — Microbiology Society member, Ed Hutchinson, in an important article published in the Guardian yesterday -

Hi, this is great, please could you add me to the list? Thanks!

The Tenth ESWI Influenza Conference - Valencia 2025

🌟 #ESWI 🏆 Awards are open for #EarlyCareerScientists! 🌟
✨ Claude Hannoun Prize for Best Body of Work
📅 Deadline: 28 February 2025
Apply now 👉 www.eswiconference.org/eswi-awards/...
@cvandesandt.bsky.social was 2023 winner! 💬 eswi.org/site/young-s... Will you be next?

U.S. records first fatal bird flu case amid growing concerns about virus The U.S. has recorded its first fatal case of H5N1 bird flu, in a person from Louisiana who contracted the virus from infected chickens and wild birds in a backyard flock.

The lack of severe infections among US #H5N1 #birdflu cases up till now may have created the notion among some people that the virus has become harmless. The death of a person in Louisiana is a reminder that that is not a safe bet. www.statnews.com/2025/01/06/b...

Flu testing at US emergency visits jumped from 3% to 11% from 2013 to 2022

Flu testing at US emergency visits jumped from 3% to 11% from 2013 to 2022 www.cidrap.umn.edu/influenza-ge...

CDC just confirmed the first severe case of #H5N1 in the US in a patient in Louisiana. This virus seems to be the same genotype D1.1 that is spreading in birds at the moment (so not the cattle genotype B3.13) that severely sickened the teenager in Canada. #IDsky 🧪