Pinning this to help convert between multiple alternative numbering systems in use for influenza H5N1 hemagluttinin.

J Vet Diagn Invest . Detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(#H5N1) virus, clade 2.3.4.4b, genotype B3.13 in placentas from aborted bovine fetuses flutrackers.com/threads/j-ve… h/t tetano

ST.1 is clearly a good XFG variant (with some other useful mutations besides A435S - see below), but its share in Spain reached plateau a while ago while TK.1 continued to grow, so I don't think plain ST.1 is driving current Spanish wave, which is more a result of antibody waning

Covid in the Republic of Ireland 'National SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Surveillance Programme' In Week 37 (to 19 September 2026) SARS-CoV-2 was detected in 28/30 catchments. The viral load was stable in 04 areas, increased in 25 and decreased in 1 area. (HPSC data & charts)

This sounds like an opportunity for comment from @MichaelSFuhrer on hospital trends for SARS-2, if I can manage to tag him correctly this time (I botched that on providing him the Spanish data source & was rescurd by @simon_faire )

British Columbia (Canada) PJ.2.1 - it's not just sewage samples in BC: this KP.3* saltation now has actual patient sequences too Not a surprise, just keeping an ear out for growth since PJ.2.1 is epidemiologically relevant - with *clinical* behaviour still uncharacterized (NB)

The free bottle of milk on every British school desk was put there by a 4ft 10 redhead from a Manchester slum, who was dead within 6 months of doing it. Ellen Wilkinson grew up in Ardwick in the 1890s, in a house with no bath, and caught every illness going. She got out on scholarships. By 1935 she was MP for Jarrow, a shipbuilding town where the yard had shut and 7 men in 10 had no work. She had seen what that did to the children. They were small, bow-legged and grey. In 1936 she walked with 200 of their fathers from Jarrow to London, nearly 300 miles, to hand in a petition. The Prime Minister would not see them. In 1945 she was made Minister of Education. She had one thing she wanted above the rest. The Treasury told her the country was bankrupt and it could not be afforded. In August 1946 a third of a pint of full cream milk became free for every schoolchild in Britain, every day, whatever their parents earned. That winter was the worst of the century. Her ministry had no coal. She worked in her overcoat with bronchitis, and on 6 February 1947 she was found dead in her flat, aged 55. She never saw a single class of those children grow up. They turned out the tallest and straightest generation the country had ever produced. If you drank it, warm, through a paper straw, you were her life's work.

AFluDiary Blog `Antiviral Research: N70S/Y155H Combined Mutation of Neuraminidase of Avian Influenza #H9N2 Virus confers oseltamivir and zanamivir resistance and pathogenicity to Mice' afludiary.blogspot.com/2026/…

As predicted a couple weeks ago, the peak of this relatively small summer wave was approximately Sept 16.

SARS-CoV-2 Primary Care Surveillance in England Data from the RCGP Sentinel Surveillance system of around two thousand GP Practices. In Week 39, ending 27 September 2026, the RCGP national average COVID-19 incidence rate for England (all ages) increased… (RCGP data & chart)

The Covid wave in England is likely continuing to grow, and infection levels as of 27 September were probably between 1 in 249 and 1 in 218 people infected. This is the time to take sensible precautions against catching Covid in all indoor places. A (short) thread 🧵

Graphs are *always* better for me: can look at integral as well as maximum wave height (Among other things...) Suspect this year's (2026) Spanish XFG* wave will have LOWER *cumulative* positives (integral) than 2025 despite slightly HIGHER *peak* than last year

1. Sometimes I find it difficult to remain professional and measured on this platform. This is one of those occasions, as I watch politicians seemingly unable to grasp the fact that with Covid in a state of constant and unmitigated transmission, children will be sick more often..

Covid in England SARS-CoV-2 Laboratory-Identified Cases notified to UKHSA under the NOIDS Health Protection Regulations - W39 Weekly data, often published prior to the UKHSA Covid Cases signal, gives an early indication of the trend in prevalence. (UKHSA data, @gwladwr chart)

Nice illustration of low-hospitalization BA.3.2 wave in Summer prior to current XFG* Autumn wave Wonder what generic "BA.2.86" is in blue in recent weeks - maybe some PJ.2.1? Or 'just' RF lineages?

Following my post below, I decided to write to the body responsible, pointing out that it is incorrect to say that fit-tested unvalved FFP3 face masks do not filter air expelled by the wearer so should never be worn by an infectious person. I have just had a response! 🥳🧵

Toasty-looking

AFluDiary Blog `Novel Swine Flu and Remembrance' #1976 #H1N1 afludiary.blogspot.com/2026/…