Uh... this is how you get zombies.

Former Google Exec Warns AI Could Create a Deadly Plague
"We are working with dangerous things." - https://futurism.com/the-byte/former-google-exec-ai-plague

#artificialintelligence #AI #pathogens #science #zombies

Is it okay to kiss your pet? What diseases can pets carry?

"Dogs and cats are major reservoirs of zoonotic infections ..."

"Kissing pets has also been linked to occasional zoonotic infections in pet owners."

"Pet ownership is at an all-time high, with a recent survey finding 69% of Australian households have at least one pet."

Australians spend an estimated A$33 billion every year on their pets.

https://theconversation.com/is-it-okay-to-kiss-your-pet-the-risk-of-animal-borne-diseases-is-small-but-real-210898

Bellingen residents choose to own an abundance of dogs and cats in the middle of a native wildlife hotspot. Pedestrians and staff of eateries regularly fumble on dog snouts. Dogs inside eateries often slobber over tables, but no one cares...

#Bellingen #eateries #cafes #pathogens #hygiene #zoonosis #pets #dogs #cats #biodiversity

Invasive species No 1 driver of biodiversity loss in Australia – and feral cats have biggest impact, report finds

"Australasia has been identified as a global hotspot for invasive species. In Australia, invasive species are the number one driver of biodiversity loss"

"Feral cats have the greatest environmental impact..."

"Australia has lost more native mammal species than any other continent, with more than 100 species listed as either extinct or extinct in the wild.'

“This report makes it clear that the Albanese government’s commitment to ‘no new extinctions’ will be no more than a slogan without increased focus and funding needed to prevent the next wave of invasive species."

“Invasive species are likely to be a primary driver of 85% of the next round of predicted vertebrate extinctions over the next 20 years"

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/04/invasive-species-no-1-driver-of-biodiversity-loss-in-australia-and-feral-cats-have-biggest-impact-report-finds
#NativeFlora #NativeFauna #biodiversity #FireAnts #pests #weeds #cats #pets #biosecurity #pathogens #trade #extinction makers

The Danger of ‘Invisible’ #Biolabs Across the U.S.

Opinion by Dan Greene, August 31, 2023

"Recently, many #California residents were disturbed to learn that a small, privately-operated bio lab in the #CentralValley town of #Reedley was shut down by Fresno County Department of Public Health officials after they found that it had been improperly managing almost 1,000 laboratory mice and samples of infectious diseases including #COVID19, #rubella, #malaria, #dengue, #chlamydia, #hepatitis, and #HIV. The lab was registered to a company called #PrestigeBiotech that sold a variety of medical testing kits, including for pregnancy and COVID-19, and it was likely storing disease samples for the purpose of developing and validating its testing kits. Government authorities are still investigating the company’s history, but it appears to have previously operated a lab in Fresno under the name Universal MediTech, where city officials flagged it for investigation regarding improperly stored chemicals.

"From what is publicly known, the Reedley lab should likely have followed proper biosafety practices to minimize the risks of an #outbreak, and it apparently failed to do so. It could have caused illness, disruption, or even death among local communities and beyond depending on the circumstances of an outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (#CDC) maintains a system of four 'Biosafety Level' standards that are used worldwide for work with dangerous pathogens. Based on the pathogens that were being used at the Reedley lab, it probably should have followed Biosafety Level 3, which involves controlling the airflow inside the lab as well as a host of other practices, equipment, and facility design requirements.

"Yet, astonishingly, the U.S. government seems to not have even known that the Reedley lab existed until it was discovered by chance by Jesalyn Harper, an observant local city code enforcement officer—the only such officer working full-time in the entire city. Once discovered, the Fresno County and California Departments of Public Health found it to be in violation of local and state codes, including those for registering clinical labs and managing medical waste. Based on our reading of available information, it was likely also in violation of federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations for protecting workers from bloodborne pathogens. But these codes require proactive reporting, and the lab simply never reported any issues to regulators. In slightly different circumstances, it would likely have continued to operate unnoticed for a long time."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/the-danger-of-invisible-biolabs-across-the-u-s/ar-AA1g2xoJ?rc=1&ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=63e1f402a65c4defaf12a4efa4962d12&ei=7

#BioHazard #LabSafety #Pathogens
Potential #Pandemic #LabLeak

2/2 #HICPAC

⬇️👀

..A letter sent to CDC
opens in a new tab or window Director Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH& signed by hundreds of public & occupational #health experts, noted that the proposed change "allows #healthcare employers undefined broad discretion in creating and implementing their infection control and prevention plans," based in part on staffing levels, patient populations, and a distinction between " #pandemic phase" & "seasonal" #pathogens.

#COVID #COVIDisAirborne
#CovidIsNotOver

"I refuse to think that it's too late...I'm working my ass off to work on ways to fix this."

#ClimateChange is already changing where #insects and wild #animals live, spreading the range—and sometimes increasing the lethality—of "modern" #pathogens while also releasing human-infectious, long frozen (up to a million years, so far) pathogens we're unfamiliar with, and against which we may have no #ImmuneDefenses.

Everything, Everywhere All at Once solutions, now.

https://youtu.be/D-JStKxy6H0

‘It is well-established that #N95s offer more protection than surgical masks against breath-emitted #airborne #pathogens and #wildfire smoke, which are micron-size fine particles.’ Recommended reading and references @TheWHN #CovidIsAirborne

https://whn.global/prevent-airborne-transmission-in-healthcare/

What can bacteria teach us about unexplored areas of #ubiquitin signaling and regulation?
John Pruneda and colleagues discuss how #pathogens subvert the host cell #ubiquitination system by either adopting or breaking its rules
New review article as #weekendreading!

https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.15252/embj.2023114318

Research Associate - University of British Columbia

University of British Columbia

Come join our team at #UBC in beautiful #Vancouver as a Research Associate to study #TB, #pathogens, #macrophages, #immunity, and #drugdiscovery!!

See the full job description on jobRxiv: https://jobrxiv.org/job/university-of-british-columbia-27778-research-associate/?feed_id=55439

#ScienceJobs #hiring #research ...
https://jobrxiv.org/job/university-of-british-columbia-27778-research-associate/?feed_id=55439

Hello mastodon! 🧬 🩰 ☠️
#aDNA #archaeology #microbiome #pathogens #ancientDNA #ancient #genomics

ICB

Congrats (@) Cnidarians_Rock on X !!!

& for those who might have missed it, a free read of

Still Enigmatic: Innate #Immunity in the #Ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi

by Traylor-Knowles, Vandepas, & Browne

https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icz116

#metazoans #pathogens #science #sciences #ecology #womeninstemm

Potentially dangerous #pathogens locked away in #permafrost for thousands of years could be released as the planet warms> https://bit.ly/3CzL6tn

This needs to change.
“Despite the growing concern,” the WHO report notes, “fungal infections receive very little attention and resources.”
#fungi #health #pathogens #medicine #MedMastodon #Canada #ClimateChange
https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/valley-fever-fungus-disease-climate-change

#UNEP report: #Superbugs could kill up to 10M every year by 2050 #antibioticresistance #pathogens

https://www.naturalnews.com/2023-08-03-un-report-superbugs-kill-10m-yearly-2050.html

Authorities search discovered a laboratory, nearly 1000 #geneticallymodified mice, unlabelled test tubes and containers full of #biological material and #chemicals. #Pathogens including SARS-CoV-2, #HIV another BSL-3 agents were reportedly found in this illegal lab. Ostensibly the company, Prestige Biotech, was making #COVID tests and other medical products. The lab was moved to this site after a predecessor company, Universal Meditech, Inc. went bankrupt.

https://biosafetynow.org/raina-macintyre-in-your-backyard-from-rajneesh-to-reedley-implications-of-illegal-biolabs/

Beneficial #bacteria UD1022 promising for disarming #fungal #pathogens that affect #turfgrass.

#Spo0A #rhizobacteria

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-beneficial-bacteria-ud1022-fungal-pathogens.html

Five NEW #PestSurveyCards are out.
A #virus of #palms, two #pathogens of broadleaved #trees, a #scale of #citrus and two #BarkBeetles of #oaks.
And many more.
Check our gallery of cards!
https://efsa.europa.eu/plants/planthealth/monitoring/surveillance/gallery

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Plants_EFSA/status/1684828913438973952

🇪🇺 Coconut cadang-cadangviroid (CCCVd) is a #UnionQuarantinePest
🌴It affects some species of #palms
⚠️It can lead to severe crown mortality
➡️Check the latest @Plants_EFSA #PestSurveyCard: https://efsa.europa.eu/plants/planthealth/monitoring/surveillance/coconut-cadang-cadang-viroid
<div class="rsshub-quote">
Plants EFSA: Five NEW #PestSurveyCards are out.
A #virus of #palms, two #pathogens of broadleaved #trees, a #scale of #citrus and two #BarkBeetles of #oaks.
And many more.
Check our gallery of cards!
https://efsa.europa.eu/plants/planthealth/monitoring/surveillance/gallery
</div>

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Plants_EFSA/status/1684905033282768897

...Much worse than the Jurassic Parc scenario... 🙄
#ClimateChange #pathogens

“In the worst, but still entirely plausible case, the invasion of a single ancient pathogen reduced the size of its host community by 30 per cent when compared to our non-invasive controls,”

Just 1% of frozen pathogens released from Earth’s melting ice could wreak havoc on planet, study says | The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/pathogens-release-earth-ice-melt-b2384668.html

Ancient #pathogens released from melting ice could wreak havoc on the world, new analysis reveals.

#climate_change #bacteria

https://theconversation.com/ancient-pathogens-released-from-melting-ice-could-wreak-havoc-on-the-world-new-analysis-reveals-209795