Postdoc at the University of Glasgow | virus phylogenetics and evolutionary modelling | she/her
Dr. Rowan Durrant
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While this seems to work well for rabies, I'd be cautious about applying it to diseases with different R0 values and transmission dynamics, but we're working on an extension of the formula that could make it useful for a wider range of pathogens 🦠
A simple method of estimating rabies outbreak sizes from phylogenies https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.01.729206v1
And by simple, you only need three parameters: the mean branch length of a phylogeny in subs/site, the number of sequences in your tree, and an estimate of the per-generation evolutionary rate. The formula seems to work surprisingly well on simulated outbreak datasets given its simplicity!
Very excited that this project is now out as a preprint! We found a very simple way of estimating rabies outbreak sizes from phylogenies: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Coauthors on bluesky: @jdushoff.bsky.social @khampson.bsky.social @kirstynbrunker.bsky.social
Amazing speed from the teams in Uganda and the DRC - impressive!
Three genomes released so far - a few quick takes:
1️⃣ New genomes ~equidistant from 2007 and 2012 outbreaks.
2️⃣ Represents new spillover from reservoir.
3️⃣ Limited diversity, so too early to speculate on timing.
Great work ⭐!
Really excited to be able to share our latest preprint, describing how during its evolution in cattle, H5N1 has got better at using a type of alternative receptor that's abundant in cows, but not found in humans and birds.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Important to read the seminal paper on the discovery of the Bundibugyo virus. It is a different species from Zaire Ebola virus, differing in its genome by up to 32%. The vaccines and monoclonal antibodies for Zaire virus are unlikely to be effective here.
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
🧬 New resource alert!
Pleased to share the release of RABV-gDB: a new platform for rabies virus genomic data, analysis, and sequence management developed
@cvrbioinfo.bsky.social
as part of the RAGE toolkit.
🌐 gdb-web-dev.cvr.gla.ac.uk
🔧 github.com/RAGE-toolkit
#Rabies #Genomics #OneHealth
Led by @rowandurrant.bsky.social, we're trying to develop rules of thumb to estimate under-reporting from sequence data. Today rabies, tomorrow the world!
With @khampson.bsky.social, @kirstynbrunker.bsky.social and others.
Dr. Rowan Durrant
www.biorxiv.org
🔔Exclusive: CDC just posted a tranche of genomic data from measles.
1,000 genomes have been sequenced, so researchers expect an answer to the elimination question within the month.
"That we're even talking about this is nuts," said @kgandersen.bsky.social
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
