Mark Honigsbaum

1/Plague is a word freighted with menace. Little wonder then that reports of an outbreak of pneumonic plague at a laboratory in Siberia are sparking biosecurity concerns and fears about the return of a pathogen from the Dark Ages. www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...

Nigeria announces its first Ebola case in 12 years Also, Kenyan officials confirm a 9th case in that country, 4 of which have been healthcare workers. Read more: https://bit.ly/4eMNYGm 📷: EU/ECHO/Isabel Coello

Kenyan health authorities say latest patient was likely exposed to the country's first Ebola case.

⁠Three health workers who ⁠treated the country’s first Ebola patient are among the latest confirmed cases.

Incredible, what a contrast with the 2013-16 West Africa Ebola outbreak that was debated on the floor of the UN and prompted a massive medical and humanitarian response.

Curiouser and curioser - mother of deceased Siberian lab worker denies rumours her daughter died as result of a lab accident, saying “a test tube is impossible to break. Even if you throw it against a wall.” Russia Says It Found No ‘Emergency’ in Plague Lab www.nytimes.com/2026/10/07/w...

US asks Russia for info over the mysterious death at a lab storing bubonic plague bacteria. WHO is investigating reports of a possible lab exposure and 2nd unexplained "pneumonia" case. Russia denies any dangerous pathogen escaped, have not shared samples.

Reports of an outbreak of plague following a “lab accident” in Siberia cannot help but invoke memories of Covid-19. But could the closer historical parallel be with an outbreak of pneumonic plague in Los Angeles in 1924? markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/reflection...

The mother of a Russian scientist who died in a suspected plague leak has challenged reports that her daughter was infected after breaking a test tube containing plague bacteria. Darya Shipilova, a 28-yr-old laboratory technician at the Siberian anti-plague research institute in Irkutsk, died early

I asked plague scientists in France, the U.K. and the U.S. what they make of the death of a lab technician in Siberian. (Spoiler: There's absolutely no reason to worry about a plague epidemic.) www.science.org/content/arti... @science.org

The latest warnings from AI bosses about the threat posed by superintelligent chatbots echo concerns about “gain-of-function” experiments involving pandemic pathogens. But are the prophecies of doom overblown and does AI need tighter regulation? markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/regulate-o...

When my faithful companion of sixteen years died last summer, I never thought I’d love a dog the same way again. Then I heard about Guide Dogs for the Blinds’ puppy raiser scheme…. markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/first-step...

Just when you thought we’d reached “peak poop”…

English version of my review of Bratlies book: A book filled with contradictions, cherry-picking of data, conspiratorial arguments, and serious accusations that undermine trust in research and contribute to making the world less safe in the face of the next pandemic. tjomlid.com/a-critical-r...

Vaccines get a bad rap on social media. But studies of vaccines for diseases like shingles and influenza suggest they not only protect us from pathogens but increase our chances of living into old age free from conditions associated with senescence. markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/why-its-sm...

I recommend Carl Zimmer's book Air-Borne for the deep history that led to this shocking mistake. It wasn't just a matter of "oh it was a new virus, we didn't know anything about it" - there's a far more profound lesson than that for how science happens. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

As the US National Institutes of Health prepares to host a lecture on the "lab-leak" theory and the origin of Covid-19, I review the long history of pandemics and describe how the the question of origins has long puzzled researchers. www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...

The meningitis outbreak sparking panic across southern England is a reminder that the infection can strike anyone, anywhere at any time. I should know - in 2012 it claimed the life of journalist friend shortly after his arrival in Paris. markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/meningitis...

Freelancers, small businesses and so on have a statutory right under uk law to charge interest on unpaid bills. But the calculation can be complex. So my old friend the brill actress and podcaster Laura Shavin, built a calculator. It’s clever. fvo1.com/late-payment...

Aerosol infection, “the elephant in the room”…

Our understanding of the origin of COVID-19, while still incomplete, is one of the most well-supported scientific theories of any pandemic. When it comes to “Scientific Freedom”, it must be based in science and evidence - this is the opposite, platforming pseudoscience instead.

New email to Director Bhattacharya about a new Scientific Freedom lecture to be given my Matt Ridley on The Search for the Origin of COVID-19. Ridley is a British scientist and journalist who published a book in 2022 on the subject. 1/5

As a new study calls into question one of the central planks of the "lab leak" hypothesis, I review the long history of pandemics and describe how researchers have long puzzled over their origins. markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/opportunit...

"Russian flu," the pandemic that hit in 1977, bears an evolutionary signature of having emerged from a lab, perhaps as part of a failed vaccine effort. Covid, mpox, Ebola, and other influenza pandemics don't. Here's my story on a new way to trace the origins of pandemics. Gift link: nyti.ms/46N0W33

Scientists Get a Glimpse of How New Pandemics Are Made www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/s...

As bombs rain down on Tehran, the world appears more than divided than ever. But was war in the Middle East inevitable? Or is the current conflagration further evidence of how Covid-19 destabilised our world, plunging us into permacrisis? open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...

On World Book Day, we're remembering powerful contributions about the Wall from our Chair, @franfd.bsky.social, and journalist @honigsbaum.bsky.social to "When This Is Over - Reflections on an Unequal Pandemic"... ❤️ #WorldBookDay

In the last six weeks, Europe has seen Biblical levels of rain, exceeding the 40 days and nights described in the Book Genesis. When will the deluge end, many have been asking? But what if it has only just begun?And what are we going to do about it? substack.com/home/post/p-...

When Peter Mandelson bought a house in my street, I wondered how he could afford it. Pity then that all it took was one call to my editor from the ‘Prince of Darkness’ to kill my story. open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...

To Oxford to debate the Covid Lockdowns this evening with Sunetra Gupta, Hugh Montgomery & Toby Green. What did we get right and what did we get wrong? And what should we do differently next time? x.com/comacfreedom...

The new Netflix miniseries Death By Lightning based on the 1881 assassination of president James Garfield by a deranged office seeker is highly pertinent to our troubled times. open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...

Study in JAMA Pediatrics estimates that vaccinating pregnant women against COVID-19 prevented 7,000 hospitalizations in infants and 3,000 in pregnant women from January 2024 to May 2025.  #Medsky www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cov...

Some thoughts on the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, and what the litany of campus shootings say about our violent, blood-soaked times. markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/meridian-t...

www.thefp.com/p/sam-harris... Sage advice from Sam Harris:- Get off social media. Read good books and real journalism. Find your friends. And enjoy your life.

Charlie Kirk’s Killing and Our Poisonous Internet www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/o... “While the internet’s rot once felt safely bottled…within a digital realm, this act of political violence may have punctured whatever barrier once existed”.

When my beloved goldendoodle of 15 years died this summer I was overwhelmed with grief. Then something extraordinary happened: I took a hiatus from social media and began engaging with people in real life. markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/murphys-gift

My worst nightmare is coming true. I am turning into Jay Bhattacharya. @reason.com is writing articles calling me a silenced and censored scientific dissident. What have I done to myself. 😅 reason.com/2025/09/03/f...

I am happy Gov. Kathy Hochul took action to defend COVID vaccine access in the face of the anti-science attacks from Robert Kennedy Jr. and his crank allies like Marty Makary and Jay Bhattacharya. But I note that it’s only for ages 3 and up. The CDC’s original guidance was 6 months and up.