This Week in Virology – Details, episodes & analysis

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This Week in Virology

Vincent Racaniello

Science

Frequency: 1 episode/5d. Total Eps: 1399

TWiV is a weekly netcast about viruses - the kind that make you sick. Brought to you by four university professors and a science writer.

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Data updated on 05/10/2026

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Score global : 48%

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TWiV 1363: A Cauldron of Bats

Episode 1363

Sunday, October 4, 2026 • Duration 01:53:39

TWiV explains a study testing how 16 hypothesized social and environmental drivers impact disease outbreaks, concluding that infectious disease spillover and emergence are multi-causal, and that no one-size-fits-all strategy can prevent epidemics and pandemics, and an analysis of Myotis bats, which shows that their remarkable longevity and immunity are linked through pleiotropic adaptations to viruses and aging-related disease.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Angela Mingarelli

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Links for this episode

Support science education at MicrobeTV
Virus Appreciation Day (Day of the Year)
Anthropogenic fingerprint on emerging infectious diseases (Nature)
Longevity and virus-driven adaptations in Myotis bats (Nature)
Letters read on TWiV 1363
Timestamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Picks of the Week

Angela – Birds.
Alan – Halloween t-shirts from my local animal shelter.
Vincent – A Thousand Brains by Jeff Hawkins

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.

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TWiV 1362: Clinical Update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

Episode 1362

Saturday, October 3, 2026 • Duration 53:34

In his weekly clinical update, Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello continue their ongoing exasperation over 5 deaths in Pennsylvania associated with measles infections, the absurdity of RFK Jr.'s statement that AI is better informed than physicians, the outbreak of cholera, more deaths by raw milk products, spread of dengue virus in Florida, Ebola in DRC, refusal to acknowledge the benefits of the HBV vaccine birth dose, how TORCH agent infections impact neurodevelopment and may lead to increase chances of autism diagnosis, Legionnaires disease and screw worm cases, before Dr. Griffin deep dives into recent statistics on RSV, influenza, SARS-CoV-2 infections, the continued measles outbreak in Pennsylvania, US, and Canada, modeling predictions of the outcome for repealing measles vaccination requirements to enter school in Florida, reactogenicity of different COVID vaccines and contacting your federal government representative to stop the assault on science and biomedical research.

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Links for this episode

A.I. Is 'Better Informed' Than Doctors, Kennedy Tells Industry-Backed MAHA Summit (NY Times)
WHO reports latest global trends in cholera, meningitis and plague (WHO)
WHO: Global cholera deaths in2025 (CIDRAP)

TWiV 1361: Ancient Viral Sword and Shield

Episode 1361

Sunday, September 27, 2026 • Duration 01:46:10

TWiV explains discovery of a previously unknown mechanism of RNA-guided DNA recognition for genetic control that possibly predates the emergence of CRISPR pathways, and the possibility that Alzheimer's Disease neuropathology evolved as a host defense response to microbial infection in the brain.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Brianne Barker

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Links for this episode

Support science education at MicrobeTV
Bob Tesh dies (Galv News)
Comment on propsed changes to NIH peer review (NIH)
NIH peer review proposed changes (Forbes)
Ancient RNA guided DNA recognition (Science)
Noncontiguous geometric triplex (Science)
p-tau has anti-herpes virus activity (Nat Neurosci)

Picks of the Week Listener Pick

TWiV 1360: Clinical Update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

Episode 1360

Saturday, September 26, 2026 • Duration 01:00:27

In his weekly clinical update, Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello frustration continues over the increasing number of measles infections, Kennedy's undermining of vaccines, perpetuation of autism- vaccine, autism-tylenol myths, an outbreak of hepatitis A virus in the US, the Ebola outbreak in Uganda, changes in reporting of virus infection and vaccine recommendations, Legionnaires disease and screw worm cases, and before Dr. Griffin deep dives into recent statistics RSV, influenza, SARS-CoV-2 infections, economics of a measles outbreak in Chicago, what defines reactogenicity of the mRNA COVID vaccines, the on-going delay by HHS of COVID shots for children, neuropsychiatric symptoms of long COVID and contacting your federal government representative to stop the assault on science and biomedical research.

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Links for this episode

CDC adds 177 cases to US measles total but has yet to confirm deaths in Pennsylvania (CIDRAP)
Kennedy questions vaccine safety at Children's Health Defense event (CIDRAP)
Trump says some routine immunizations will be split into five separate shots. Vaccine experts say it won't work (CNN)

TWiV 1359: SSPE, the Long Shadow of Measles

Episode 1359

Sunday, September 20, 2026 • Duration 01:10:13

Roberto Cattaneo and Kalpana Yadav join TWiV at the 2026 meeting of the American Society for Virology to discuss how the absence of measles virus receptors in the brain selects for hyperfusogenic variants that spread neuron-to-neuron and cause subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a rare but fatal long-term neurological sequela of measles infection.

Host: Vincent Racaniello

Guests: Roberto Cattaneo and Kalpana Yadav

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Links for this episode

Support science education at MicrobeTV
How measles virus adapts to the brain (Ann Rev Virol)
Measles virus F50S change in neuronal spread (J Virol)
Measles virus collective infectious unit and SSPE (J Virol)
Measles virus brain tropism acquisition (PLoS Path)
Timestamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

TWiV 1358: Clinical Update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

Episode 1358

Saturday, September 19, 2026 • Duration 53:59

In his weekly clinical update, Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello are angered by the continuous reporting of measles deaths in the US and around the world, the Ebola outbreak in Uganda, changes in reporting of virus infection and vaccine recommendations, establishing an NIH research center on vaccine harms, Legionnaires at Yankee stadium and the first time in more than half a century reporting of an equine screwworm case, and how HHS may prevent more than half of US children from getting the COVID-19 vaccine this season before Dr. Griffin deep dives into recent statistics RSV, influenza, SARS-CoV-2 infections, efficacy and safety of the 2026-2027 COVID-19 vaccine, and contacting your federal government representative to stop the assault on science and biomedical research.

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Links for this episode

Unvaccinated Woman Likely Died of Measles Complications, Pa. County Coroner Says NY Times)
Confirmed death of an 18-year old due to complications of measles (Facebook: Mifflin County Coroner's Office)
CDC's for measles deaths puzzles experts (CIDRAP)

TWiV 1357: Furin, Naturally with Paul Bieinasz

Episode 1357

Sunday, September 13, 2026 • Duration 01:44:17

Paul Bieniasz joins TWiV to discuss his lab's discovery that the coronavirus nuclease NSP15 cuts viral RNA into oligonucleotides that are reinserted elsewhere in the viral RNA, generating insertion mutations at a frequency above 10⁻³ per genome, including new furin cleavage sites at the spike S1/S2 junction.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Kathy Spindler

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Links for this episode

Support science education at MicrobeTV
Genetic innovation in coronaviruses driven by a viral nuclease (bioRxiv)
Letters read on TWiV 1357
Timestamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Picks of the Week

Kathy – Jurassic Museum of Asturias
Alan – , by Lee Stringer – and

Listener Pick

TWiV 1356: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

Episode 1356

Saturday, September 12, 2026 • Duration 47:17

In his weekly clinical update, Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello delve into dengue virus infections in Florida, recent human rabies infections in the US, proposed changes in biomedical funding including "converting" the Department of War into NIAID, the continuing controversy over the deaths of 2 children in Pennsylvania from measles, before Dr. Griffin deep dives into recent statistics RSV, influenza, SARS-CoV-2 infections, approval of new mRNA COVID-19 vaccines by the FDA, and contacting your federal government representative to stop the assault on science and biomedical research.

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Links for this episode

Dengue in Florida: Florida Arbovirus Surveillance (Florida Health)
Nationwide Increase in Reported Human Rabies Exposures: Rabies Post-exposure Prophylaxis Administration (CDC: Health Alert Network)
NIH proposes major revamp of how it scores research grant proposals (Nature)
Revealed: inside the US military's plan to tap huge sums from the NIH (Nature)

TWiV 1355: Four billion years of AI training data

Episode 1355

Sunday, September 6, 2026 • Duration 01:38:00

TWiV reviews a landmark paper reporting the first generative design of complete viral genomes using AI, producing 16 viable bacteriophages that overcame antibiotic-resistant bacteria where natural phages could not, and a study suggesting that recombinant shingles vaccination reduces the risk of cardiovascular events.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Kathy Spindler, and Brianne Barker

Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, RSS, email

Become a patron of TWiV!

Links for this episode

Support science education at MicrobeTV
Recombinant shingles vaccination reduces risk of cardiovascular events (Nat Med)
AI design of bacteriophages (Science)
AI-designed viral genomes (Science)
Letters read on TWiV 1355
Timestamps by Jolene Ramsey. Thanks!

Picks of the Week Listener Pick

TWiV 1354: Clinical update with Dr. Daniel Griffin

Episode 1354

Saturday, September 5, 2026 • Duration 01:05:08

In his weekly clinical update, Daniel Griffin and Vincent Racaniello remember Dolly Parton and her patronage of science, especially development of the COVID-19 vaccines, if the shingles vaccine protect against cardiovascular events as well as dementia, 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 how to determine the case fatality rate of measles as well as measles outbreaks, recent statistics RSV, influenza, SARS-CoV-2 infections, approval of new mRNA COVID-19 vaccines by the FDA, access and how pay for Paxlovid, where to go for answers about long COVID-19, clinical guidelines for treating long COVID, B-cells-autoimmunity- long COVID, enrolling in a long COVID trial and the use of the COVID antiviral drug to "sop up" chronic virus shedding and contacting your federal government representative to stop the assault on science and biomedical research.

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Links for this episode

Dolly Parton adapts her song Jolene as she receives Covid-19 vaccine she helped fund (YouTube)
Dolly Parton's major contributions to vaccines and public health (the bmj)
Recombinant shingles vaccination and the of cardiovascular events (Nature Medicine)