Jon Bang Ploug

Excited to share our work on #AncientRNA from alcohol-preserved lungs, recovering the oldest human RNA virus genome (an 18th-century rhinovirus). Our study shows that viral RNA remnants persist in centuries-old tissue, opening new ways to study virus evolution and historical disease #Paleovirology🫁🦠

Between 1904 and 1907, approximately two million people are estimated to have died of plague in northern India. Despite this extraordinary scale, the episode has never been narrated as a historical catastrophe, surviving instead almost exclusively in statistical series and technical reports.

🦠 Nipah outbreak Nipah virus outbreaks have high fatality rates, in the 40-70% range. The latest outbreak is in eastern India. Five cases are reported, and 100 people are under quarantine. Several Asian countries are reported to be stepping up alertness. 1/2

The intellectual diversity of IoT has been astounding. One of my favourite moments was when a scientist began his reply: ‘A billion, billion light years ago…’ ✍️ Melvyn Bragg

Folklore experts: I need help visualizing a portent from an Icelandic Annal: A man sees a "strange sheep" that is spotted and shaped like a "gaflkæna" (a small boat with a flat stern?). Text says: "...with a long snout in front and short/blunt behind; it came up after him in the wake of his boat."

My thanks to the PandemiX center at @roskildeuni.bsky.social for hosting me today. What a great opportunity to talk about the current state of plague research & the challenges of thinking across so many disciplinary methods. #PandemicThinking #histmed h/t @jonploug.bsky.social

Italian plague doctor, Rome 1656 The outbreak most closely linked to the iconic beaked suit. – Made with Nano Banana Pro

Another social media thread turned into an article for easier reading: Art review: Hunters in the Snow, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1565) You can read it here; fakehistoryhunter.net/2025/11/23/a... Or here; fakehistoryhunter.substack.com/p/art-review...

Thanks to @undark.org for reviewing my new book! undark.org/2025/11/21/b...

I am very pleased and grateful to share this announcement of our recent award from the @wellcometrust.bsky.social for a project on history of smallpox and measles #histmed #histsci news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-h... The project will be based @exeter.ac.uk @cceh-u24.bsky.social led by ... 1/2

Translating passages from the physician, Isbrand van Diemerbroeck (1609-74) work "On the Plague" Very interesting work, and he writes very well. See for yourself:

I really did not enjoy Jay Bhattacharya & Matthew Memoli’s screed against pandemic & virology research for the flagship blog of a “free-market think tank." Instead of getting mad, I accepted @jeremyfaust.bsky.social's kind invitation to take a factual & scientific blowtorch to it.

Can't emphasize how damaging this is. A single non-scientist—Peter Bogner—holds all power & makes all decisions at GISAID & provides no justifications for any of them, except blatantly false ones. He has that power because he conned rich & powerful people into giving it to him. Enough.

In Denmark, archaeologists are thrilled about metal detecting. They have discovered otherwise unknown treasures. Our National Museum is currently holding an exhibition celebrating their finds. Why not in England? Bad experiences? nationalmuseet.dk/udstillinger...

Enough plague research bickering for now . – Listening to the song Northwest passage and dreaming about studying Franklin's lost expedition.

The modern 'rat-only' understanding of plague transmission is out of touch with the sources: "In Glasgow, whatever the original source of the infection may have been, there was no evidence that rats played any part in carrying it amongst those who were attacked by the disease." Glasgow, 1900.

The healthy vaccinee effect runs deeper than we may think What this full national Danish study shows is that a huge effect remains even after correcting for age, sex, comorbidity, medical visits and place of residence The "unvaccinated by choice" test less (and die earlier) 1/

A grave of a Roman physician in Bingen dating to the 2nd c. AD contained a remarkable set of medical instruments, including cupping cups with a stand in the shape of a grapevine. These cups were used for therapeutic suction or bloodletting, a practice with deep roots in Greco-Roman . 🧵1/ 2 📷 me 🏺

Bird flu is back, big time Remember, back in March, 2025, RFK Jr unveiled his "unorthodox idea for tackling the bird flu bedeviling U.S. poultry farms. Let the virus rip." (www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/h...)

I am fascinated by how viruses evolve - and not just since #SARSCoV2 has shown us at the global stage how consequential virus evolution can be for us. In my new story in @science.org I got to explore how researchers are probing deeper into the past with old RNA virus genome. So a 🧪 thread…

This is not only worrisome but also extremely foolish. It would make for a bad movie where influenza has somehow infected people to do their bidding: "Many of the top American flu scientists are not able to do the critical research that might help clarify this because it is no longer allowed."

Still, no one dares to adress the elephant in the room: "China holds the distinction of being the world’s largest producer and consumer of antibiotics. Per capita antibiotic use in China is approximately ten times higher than in the United States" pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

A terrorist group attempts to assassinate the Prime Minister of a European country, and people respond by nearly condoning the terrorists. What is wrong with people here? People on social media, including Bluesky, are nearly as extreme as in the 1930s. This does not bode well for the future.