This Week in Virology

TWiV explores how bacteriophages enable bet-hedge against bacterial immune defenses, and how transgenic mice engineered to produce human antibodies yielded potent anti-EBV candidates targeting gp350 and gp42, a promising step toward Epstein-Barr therapeutics.
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Brianne Barker, and Jolene Ramsey
Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email
Become a patron of TWiV!
Links for this episode
Support science education at MicrobeTV
Dolly Parton, and advocate for science (Nature)
Phage bet-hedging (Nat Micro)
EBV monoclonal antibodies (Cell Rep Med)
Letters read on TWiV 1353
Timestamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!
Picks of the Week

Brianne – Did life on Earth emerge once or twice?
Rich – Cassini Approaches Saturn (Wiki on Cassini)
Jolene – Dolly Parton’s rewrite of Jolene song for vaccines on CBS news (Youtube)
Vincent – Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Listener Pick
John – Dolly Parton Sings Vaccine, Vaccine
Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees
Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv
Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

In his weekly clinical update, Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello are disheartened by the suggested change in federal vaccine recommendations, how Florida rolled back 4 childhood vaccine school requirements, results from a clinical trial suggesting that IPV can be used for outbreak control in IPV only countries, the continued national cyclosporiasis and screwworm outbreaks, size of the Ebola outbreak in the Congo, the death of 2 children in Pennsylvania from measles and the economic cost of the measles outbreak before Dr. Griffin deep dives into the use of monoclonal antibodies and remdesivir to treat Bundibugyo virus infection, measles outbreak, recent statistics RSV, influenza, SARS-CoV-2 infections, access and how pay for Paxlovid, , where to go for answers about long COVID-19, clinical guidelines for treating long COVID, and contacting your federal government representative to stop the assault on science and biomedical research.
Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email
Become a patron of TWiV!
Links for this episode
Request for Information: Categories Used in Federal Vaccine Recommendations and the Role of Shared Clinical Decision-Making (Federal Register)
HHS Seeks Public Input on Federal Vaccine Recommendation Categories and Shared Clinical Decision-Making (US Department of Health and Human Services)
HPV Vaccination and Risk of Head and Neck Cancers: A Large Real-World Cohort Study (International Society for Infectious Diseases)
Monkeypox Virus Surveillance — United States, 2024–2025 (CDC: MMWR)
Clinical Trials (ClinicalTrials.gov)
Effect of inactivated poliovirus vaccine on nasal mucosal immunity and pharyngeal shedding following novel oral poliovirus vaccine type 2 challenge: A randomized, open-label trial (JID)
IPOL package insert (FDA)
Florida Prepares to Roll Back School Vaccine Requirements (NOTUS)
Florida’s Department of Health removes 4 vaccines from required list for public schools (CIDRAP)
Surveillance of Cyclosporiasis (CDC: Cyclosporiasis)
Infectious Disease Outbreaks (Michigan: Health & Human Services)
Cyclosporiasis Cases in North Carolina (North Carolina: Division of Public Health)
Cyclospora Infection (Cyclosporiasis) (NYC Health)
Missouri Communicable Disease Report (2026) (Missouri Health)
TWiP 285: Why is cyclospora hard to contain: Parasitologists explain the 2026 US outbreak (microbeTV:TWiP)
Dashboard SCREWWORM.Gov (USDA: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service)
CDC Activates Emergency Operations Center for New World Screwworm Response (CDC Newroom)
Ebola virus (AP News)
What to know about the outbreak of a rare kind of Ebola (AP News)
Congo’s Ebola outbreak is on track to surpass the deadliest one in history, WHO chief says (AP News)
A look at major Ebola outbreaks and when the disease was first identified (AP News)
Mobile gold miners in eastern Congo complicate health workers’ efforts to contain Ebola (AP News)
How Congo is battling an Ebola outbreak complicated by aid cuts, armed rebels and anger (AP News)
Here’s data showing Congo’s Ebola outbreak is on track to surpass history’s largest (AP News)
Ebola dashboard (ebola.fyi)
EBOLA: The Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2026 (WHO)
Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak Democratic Republic of the Congo (WHO: Democratic Republic of Congo)
Ebola Outbreak: Current Situation (CDC:Ebola)
A case of Bundibugyo virus disease treated with monoclonal antibodies and remdesivir (Nature Medicine)
Post-Exposure Prophylaxis with a monoclonal antibody cocktail Following Bundibugyo Ebolavirus Exposure in Adults and Children (Nature Medicine)
Wastewater for measles (WasterWater Scan)
Measles cases and outbreaks (CDC Rubeola)
Big outbreak, bright lights…Measles Dashboard (South Carolina Department of Public Health)
Utah measles outbreak response (Utah Department of Health and Human Services)
Utah Measles Dashboard (Utah Department of Health and Human Services)
Measles (VDH: Virginia Department of Health)
Tracking Measles Cases in the U.S. (Johns Hopkins)
Measles vaccine recommendations from NYP (jpg)
HAP’s Latest News Pa. Launches New Measles Dashboard (Hospital + HealthSystem Association of Pennsylvania)
Measles (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)
Pennsylvania Department of Health Confirms Two Measles-Associated Deaths (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)
Weekly measles and rubella monitoring (Government of Canada)
Measles (WHO)
Get the FACTS about measles (NY State Department of Health)
Measles (CDC Measles (Rubeola))
Measles vaccine (CDC Measles (Rubeola))
Presumptive evidence of measles immunity (CDC)
Contraindications and precautions to measles vaccination (CDC)
Adverse events associated with childhood vaccines: evidence bearing on causality (NLM)
Measles Vaccination: Know the Facts (ISDA: Infectious Diseases Society of America)
Deaths following vaccination: what does the evidence show (Vaccine)
Do vaccinated cases transmit measles? A systematic review and meta-analysis (Expert Review of Vaccines)
County, district and community-level measles transmission in the United States in 2013−2025 (Nat Medicine)
Quantifying the cost of measles outbreak in the U.S. and how costs scale with outbreak size (Vaccine)
Each measles case in 2025 US outbreak cost almost $60,000, study estimates, or $134 million total (CIDRAP)
Influenza: Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan)
US respiratory virus activity (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
Respiratory virus activity levels (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
Flu vaccine recommendations: Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee March 12, 2026 Meeting Announcement (FDA)
WHO updates all 3 viral strains to be included in fall flu shots (CIDRAP)
FDA vaccine advisers recommend adding subclade K to fall shots (CIDRAP)
Weekly surveillance report: cliff notes (CDC FluView)
OPTION 2: XOFLUZA $50 Cash Pay Option(xofluza)
RSV: Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan)
Respiratory Diseases (Yale School of Public Health)
US respiratory virus activity (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
RSV-Network (CDC Respiratory Syncytial virus Infection)
Vaccines for Adults (CDC: Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV))
Economic Analysis of Protein Subunit and mRNA RSV Vaccination in Adults aged 50-59 Years (CDC: ACIP)
Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan)
COVID-19 deaths (CDC)
Respiratory Illnesses Data Channel (CDC: Respiratory Illnesses)
COVID-19 national and regional trends (CDC)
COVID-19 variant tracker (CDC)
SARS-CoV-2 genomes galore (Nextstrain)
Cardiac outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection versus BNT162b2 vaccination in adolescents and young adults: a cohort study of 4 million individuals (Vaccine)
mRNA COVID vaccine linked to lower risk of myocarditis in teens, youngadults (CIDRAP)
Where to get pemgarda (Pemgarda)
EUA for the pre-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 (INVIYD)
Infusion center (Prime Fusions)
CDC Quarantine guidelines (CDC)
NIH COVID-19 treatment guidelines (NIH)
Drug interaction checker (University of Liverpool)
Help your eligible patients access PAXLOVID with the PAXCESS Patient Support Program (Pfizer Pro)
Understanding Coverage Options (PAXCESS)
Trump Officials Falsely Connect Covid Vaccines to Miscarriage (NY Times)
Infectious Disease Society guidelines for treatment and management (ID Society)
Molnupiravir safety and efficacy (JMV)
Convalescent plasma recommendation for immunocompromised (ID Society)
What to do when sick with a respiratory virus (CDC)
Managing healthcare staffing shortages (CDC)
Anticoagulation guidelines (hematology.org)
Daniel Griffin’s evidence based medical practices for long COVID (OFID)
Long COVID hotline (Columbia : Columbia University Irving Medical Center)
The answers: Long COVID Reaching out to US house representative
Letters read on TWiV 1352
Dr. Griffin’s COVID treatment summary (pdf)
Timestamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!
Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees
Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv
Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

TWiV describes a human cerebral organoid model for Ebola virus persistence, and brown bullhead catfish melanoma, a novel transmissible cancer.
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit
Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email
Become a patron of TWiV!
Links for this episode
Support science education at MicrobeTV
Revamp of how NIH scores research grant proposals (Nature)
Kansas BSL-4 lab faces more delays (Science)
Ebola virus persistence in a human cerebral organoid model (Nat Micro)
Hidden cost of immune privilege (Nat Micro)
Transmissible melanoma of catfish (Nature)
Skin cancer spreads between catfish (Nature)
Tasmania devil cancer vaccine (Nature)
Letters read on TWiV 1351
Timestamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!
Picks of the Week
Rich – The Faith of Beasts by James S.A. Corey
Alan – Ingrained, by Callum Robinson
Vincent – NYC’s 5 Broken Skyscrapers — Which One Dies First?
Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees
Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv
Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

In his weekly clinical update, Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello are perplexed by the state of global public health as malaria, cholera and other infectious diseases are spread by civil warfare, the lack of manpower at the CDC to implement Congressional health programs, the first cancer mRNA vaccine resulting from a Merck and Moderna collaboration, how cyclosporiasis and screwworm outbreaks continue, FDA approval of new drugs against screwworm and critical policy decisions to control the Ebola outbreak in the Congo, before Dr. Griffin deep dives into the measles outbreak, recent statistics on RSV, influenza, SARS-CoV-2 infections and the drop in vaccination rates in the US, how schools are the source of measles infection, how vaccines only prevent severe disease not transmission as trafficking of measles on vaccinated people begins to be acknowledged, to access and pay for Paxlovid, what to know about the mRNA flu vaccine, where to go for answers about long COVID-19, clinical guidelines for treating long COVID, three myths of respiratory disease and contacting your federal government representative to stop the assault on science and biomedical research.
Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email
Become a patron of TWiV!
Links for this episode
Myanmar’s Civil War Pushes Infectious Disease Over Its Borders (NY Times)
Alzheimer’s disease (AP News)
US adult cigarette smoking rate hits another all-time low (AP News)
The CDC has zombie programs. Congress funds them, but few people are left to do the work (AP News)
Merck, Moderna’s personalized cancer vaccine slows recurrence in phase 3, setting up approval push (FIERCE Biotech)
Surveillance of Cyclosporiasis (CDC: Cyclosporiasis)
Infectious DiseaseOutbreaks (Michigan: Health & Human Services)
Cyclosporiasis Cases in North Carolina (North Carolina: Division of Public Health)
Cyclospora Infection (Cyclosporiasis) (NYC Health)
Missouri Communicable Disease Report (2026) (Missouri Health)
TWiP 285: Why is cyclospora hard to contain: Parasitologists explain the 2026 US outbreak (microbeTV:TWiP)
Dashboard SCREWWORM.Gov (USDA: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service)
CDC Activates Emergency Operations Center for New World Screwworm Response (CDC Newsroom)
FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization for Drug to Treat New World Screwworm in Dogs and Puppies (FDA)
FDA grants emergency use authorization for another New World screwworm treatment (CIDRAP)
Ebola dashboard (ebola.fyi)
EBOLA: The Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2026 (WHO)
Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak Democratic Republic of the Congo (WHO: Democratic Republic of Congo)
Ebola Outbreak: Current Situation (CDC:Ebola)
Three Months into the Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak: Now is the time for Decisive Action (AfricaCDC)
Wastewater for measles (WasterWater Scan)
Measles cases and outbreaks (CDC Rubeola)
Big outbreak, bright lights…Measles Dashboard (South Carolina Department of Public Health)
Utah measles outbreak response (Utah Department of Health and Human Services)
Utah Measles Dashboard (Utah Department of Health and Human Services)
Measles (VDH: Virginia Department of Health)
Tracking Measles Cases in the U.S. (Johns Hopkins)
HAP’s Latest News Pa. Launches New Measles Dashboard (Hospital + HealthSystem Association of Pennsylvania)
Measles vaccine recommendations from NYP (jpg)
Weekly measles and rubella monitoring (Government of Canada)
Measles (WHO)
Get the FACTS about measles (NY State Department of Health)
Measles (CDC Measles (Rubeola))
Measles vaccine (CDC Measles (Rubeola))
Presumptive evidence of measles immunity (CDC)
Contraindications and precautions to measles vaccination (CDC)
Adverse events associated with childhood vaccines: evidence bearing on causality (NLM)
Measles Vaccination: Know the Facts (ISDA: Infectious Diseases Society of America)
Deaths following vaccination: what does the evidence show (Vaccine)
Do vaccinated cases transmit measles? A systematic review and meta-analysis (Expert Review of Vaccines)
County, district and community-level measles transmission in the United States in 2013−2025 (Nat Medicine)
Dozens of States Tried to Roll Back Vaccine Laws. Here’s How They Fared. (NY Times)
More U.S. Parents Opting Children Out of Vaccine Requirements, C.D.C. Reports (NY Times)
The threat of more, expanded measles outbreaks looms with start of school (CIDRAP)
Influenza: Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan)
US respiratory virus activity (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
Respiratory virus activity levels (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
Flu vaccine recommendations: Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee March 12, 2026 Meeting Announcement (FDA)
WHO updates all 3 viral strains to be included in fall flu shots (CIDRAP)
FDA vaccine advisers recommend adding subclade K to fall shots (CIDRAP)
Weekly surveillance report: clift notes (CDC FluView)
What to Know About the mRNA Flu Vaccine, Newly Approved by the FDA (JAMA)
Oseltamivir for Critically Ill Patients with Influenza: A Randomised Trial (LANCET)
OPTION 2: XOFLUZA $50 Cash Pay Option(xofluza)
RSV: Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan)
Respiratory Diseases (Yale School of Public Health)
US respiratory virus activity (CDC Respiratory Illnesses)
RSV-Network (CDC Respiratory Syncytial virus Infection)
Vaccines for Adults (CDC: Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV))
Economic Analysis of Protein Subunit and mRNA RSV Vaccination in Adults aged 50-59 Years (CDC: ACIP)
Global, regional, and national disease burden estimates of acute lower respiratory infections due to respiratory syncytial virus in children younger than 5 years in 2019: a systematic analysis (LANCET)
A national programme of bivalent prefusion F vaccination in pregnancy and protection against respiratory syncytial virus hospitalisation in infants until age 6 months in the UK: a multicentre, prospective, test-negative, case–control study (LANCET)
Real-world studies show RSV immunizations protect newborns in their first year of life (CIDRAP)
Waste water scan for 11 pathogens (WastewaterSCan)
COVID-19 deaths (CDC)
Respiratory Illnesses Data Channel (CDC: Respiratory Illnesses)
COVID-19 national and regional trends (CDC)
COVID-19 variant tracker (CDC)
SARS-CoV-2 genomes galore (Nextstrain)
Where to get pemgarda (Pemgarda)
EUA for the pre-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 (INVIYD)
Infusion center (Prime Fusions
CDC Quarantine guidelines (CDC)
NIH COVID-19 treatment guidelines (NIH)
Drug interaction checker (University of Liverpool)
Help your eligible patients access PAXLOVID with the PAXCESS Patient Support Program (Pfizer Pro)
Understanding Coverage Options (PAXCESS)
Trump Officials Falsely Connect Covid Vaccines to Miscarriage (NY Times)
Infectious Disease Society guidelines for treatment and management (ID Society)
Molnupiravir safety and efficacy (JMV)
Convalescent plasma recommendation for immunocompromised (ID Society)
What to do when sick with a respiratory virus (CDC)
Managing healthcare staffing shortages (CDC)
Anticoagulation guidelines (hematology.org)
Daniel Griffin’s evidence based medical practices for long COVID (OFID)
Long COVID hotline (Columbia : Columbia University Irving Medical Center)
The answers: Long COVID
Beyond the acute illness: three myths about viral respiratory infection (JID)
Reaching out to US house representative
Letters read on TWiV 1350
Dr. Griffin’s COVID treatment summary (pdf)
Timestamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!
Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees
Send your questions for Dr. Griffin to daniel@microbe.tv
Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.

TWiV explains how liquid–liquid phase separation and a phage-encoded inhibitor cooperatively drive transcriptional transition during phage SPO1 infection, and the first smallpox virus genomes from an early outbreak in South America.
Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Brianne Barker, and Jolene Ramsey
Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email
Become a patron of TWiV!
Links for this episode
Support science education at MicrobeTV
Positions in Rosenfeld Lab (email)
Fred Murphy, a pioneer in virology (J Virol)
New midge-borne orthobunyavirus sickening cattle in Europe (Science)
What to Know About the Vaccines Targeted by Trump’s Executive Order (NY Times)
What vaccine Executive Order gets wrong (CIDRAP)
Trudy Rey’s 100th post at virology blog
Transcriptional transition during phage SPO1 infection (Nucl Acids Res)
Phase separation 101 (Iwasa lab)
Early smallpox in America (Science)
Letters read on TWiV 1349
Timestamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!
Picks of the Week
Brianne – APod August 7: Rubin’s Cosmos Field
Rich – Jenner’s Inquiry  Original, “annotated”;  (PDF) Smallpox vaccination and opposition by anti-vaccination societies in 19th century Britain
Jolene – Scott Seligmann’s web tool for searching keywords in podcast transcripts 
Vincent – The End of Reading is Here
Listener Picks
Tony – Fauci Fiasco Addendum
Charles – The Proposed Changes in Childhood Vaccination: A Strongly Felt Opinion
Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees
Send your virology questions and comments to twiv@microbe.tv
Content in this podcast should not be construed as medical advice.