Practical, Innovative, Hyper-focused on saving lives. Immunologist, Virologist, Pandemic Nemesis. Posts are mine.
Washington, DC
Joined January 2017
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Rick Bright retweeted
This is basically a classical dangerous Gain of Function (dGoF) experiment. I wish the US government would shut it down.
A while ago, Stacey Schultz-Cherry and I wrote a commentary (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/article…), that ends with this sentence:
US: Bird flu has been spreading for around two months on a Utah mink farm holding thousands of animals. None have been culled, workers aren't being monitored, and the USDA says it doesn't regulate mink. So thousands of animals are exposed, workers could be at risk, and nobody seems to be taking responsibility.
theguardian.com/us-news/2026…
You nailed it @KatherineEban. And it wasn’t only @USDA @USDA_APHIS that drug their feet in the Biden Admin. @HHSGov agencies were slow to take action, share data, & test milk products or exposed workers. The entire response was slow, bare minimum, lacked transparency; hugely missed opportunity to build trust & sharpen pandemic readiness.
It’s no wonder the virus continues to circulate, mutate, & infect a broader circle of mammals across the U.S.
Modern pandemic readiness should be prioritized & funded urgently.
In 2024, I investigated why Biden Admin had slow-walked response to #H5N1 outbreak in dairy cows. The answer: @USDA let farmers not test cows, at dairy lobby's behest.
vanityfair.com/news/story/in…
Strong 🧵on evolution of H5N1 risks: "This should have ended 2 years ago." 👇
Rick Bright retweeted
There is something really concerning (and disappointing) going on in the US right now.
A dangerous and preventable situation.
Let me explain.
nextstrain.org/avian-flu/h5n…
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Rick Bright retweeted
Advice I give to my colleagues in government is the same sage advice given to me by Dr Deb Houry. Define your red line and stick to it. Your credibility, the health of the people you serve, and your mental health depend on it.
NEW: When Demetre Daskalakis quit @CDCgov last year to protest RFK Jr.’s vaccine policies, he had wrestled for months with a harder question: Could he do more to protect public health by staying inside? My story. 1/3
washingtonpost.com/politics/…
Rick Bright retweeted
So H5N1 is spreading cow-to-cow amongst Washington, Utah, and Idaho.
This spread is not via the wild birds!
Rick Bright retweeted
The perfect petri dish for the next pandemic
Here’s something you should know about minks:
They have lungs and airways remarkably similar on a cellular level to those of people.
They’ve spread flus and infected humans before with COVID-19.
Right now, bird flu is spreading on a Utah farm filled with thousands of them… 🧵
ALT A close-up view of a white mink with red eyes and a pink nose baring its teeth and hissing, emerging from under a dark enclosure.
Rick Bright retweeted
The DRC's 🇨🇩 Ebola outbreak has passed 9,704 confirmed cases and 4,687 deaths.
It's the largest Ebola outbreak the country has ever recorded.
It has now reached Kenya 🇰🇪and Nigeria🇳🇬.
There is no approved vaccine or treatment for this species.
The first vaccine trial started on Friday.
Rick Bright retweeted
Seemed like a good day to re-up my @VanityFair stories about @jaredkushner: how his secret #COVID19 testing plan went “poof into thin air.” vanityfair.com/news/2020/07/… /1
Rick Bright retweeted
New: Calling it "deeply concerning" and citing @RollingStone's reporting, @EnergyCommerce demands answers from @CDCDirector about CDC plans to fund an unethical hep B vax clinical trial in Guinea-Bissau, w/ funds designated for global health security:
democrats-energycommerce.hou…
Rick Bright retweeted
Calley Means arranged a phone call that helped clinch Kennedy's endorsement of Trump and laid the groundwork for MAHA.
Means cheered the administration on Big Food even as it betrayed promises on Big Pharma. Some accused the administration of a "bait and switch" that misdirected energy on COVID vaccines to ultra-processed foods.
Now even the ultra-processed foods policy chief has resigned.
I am resigning from the White House with tremendous respect for President Trump and Bobby Kennedy.
They laid out a vision of combatting the entrenched, dark forces in DC that profit from Americans getting sick.
More policy and cultural change has happened around these goals in the past 2 years than any time in history - and I know this movement is just getting started.
It was an honor to advocate for MAHA moms in the administration and steer policies like Dietary Guidelines reform, psychedelic reform, removing soda from SNAP, removing food dyes, GRAS reform, and overhauling government food procurement.
Rick Bright retweeted
"A six-month Vanity Fair investigation raises questions about whether Means has embellished his personal story." Seems like an excellent day to re-up my @VanityFair profile of @calleymeans: vanityfair.com/news/story/ca….
I am resigning from the White House with tremendous respect for President Trump and Bobby Kennedy.
They laid out a vision of combatting the entrenched, dark forces in DC that profit from Americans getting sick.
More policy and cultural change has happened around these goals in the past 2 years than any time in history - and I know this movement is just getting started.
It was an honor to advocate for MAHA moms in the administration and steer policies like Dietary Guidelines reform, psychedelic reform, removing soda from SNAP, removing food dyes, GRAS reform, and overhauling government food procurement.
Rick Bright retweeted
This staggeringly arrogant reply by non doctor "wellness" crank Calley Means in response to an actual doctor warning against his irresponsible promotion of raw milk for kids
"We'll take it from here" he said as he joined RFK Jr's circus as an adviser
Today, Calley Means quit
Rick Bright retweeted
California & Washington asked the CDC for help validating a high-throughput measles test.
Via @apoorva_nyc, the CDC said it had “other competing priorities” and could not dedicate time to making a high-volume test available to state labs.
🎁 nytimes.com/2026/10/21/healt…
Rick Bright retweeted
Funny you should mention it, here's my @RollingStone investigation on the MAHA-MAGA schism: rollingstone.com/politics/po…
Rick Bright retweeted
The organization sponsoring the unethical study championed @SecKennedy in Guinea-Bissau was raided. Exploitation of the vulnerable for personal gain.
theguardian.com/world/2026/o…
Rick Bright retweeted
NEW: how a global ethics outcry, @EnergyCommerce demand for answers, resignations from a Danish ethics board, sustained reporting from @RollingStone + other news outlets, ended @SecKennedy's plan to fund 1 of most controversial clinical trials in memory rollingstone.com/politics/po…
Rick Bright retweeted
BREAKING: controversial hep B vax clinical trial in Guinea-Bissau, funded by CDC $$ + marred by ethics failings @RollingStone exposed in 4 detailed stories, w/ internal CDC records, will not move forward, one of the Danish researchers announced today: linkedin.com/pulse/missed-op…
Rick Bright retweeted
study by Danish researchers, called unethical by @WHO @DrPaulOffit others, had been halted by 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸.
SDU health sciences dean Jacob Grauslund confirms: he gave researchers go-ahead 4 study today: rollingstone.com/politics/po… /2
Rick Bright retweeted
SCOOP 🚨in @RollingStone 🧵👇
@CDCgov has set aside new $1.6M for controversial hepatitis B vax clinical trial in Guinea-Bissau, revived by politicos in CDC director's office.
Despite plague/Ebola fears, the $ is being pulled from CDC global health security funds. The /1
Rick Bright retweeted
There is no basis to assume the strain is antibiotic-susceptible.
There also is no basis to assume the strain is human-immune-response-susceptible.
The death of a treated and previously vaccinated bioweapons-agents researcher argues against those assumptions.
“Russian authorities have surely sequenced the Irkutsk pathogen, but refuse to identify it," he continued. "Physical lockdown indicates it cannot be controlled with prophylactic antibiotics, implying engineered pan-resistance or that it isn't plague at all."
thedailybeast.com/top-scient…
