iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 1h

A friend has Covid right now. They have lost their sense of smell and they're having cognitive problems. This hit me today, as it often does: we made, and continue to make, a huge collective mistake in allowing a virus that impacts the brain to transmit unmitigated globally.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 10h

'...meaning that each additional infection event represents an opportunity for adaptive mutations that could favor mammal-to-mammal or, ultimately, human transmission'. We keep giving this beast too much space to mutate. beaconbio.org/en/report/?r...

beaconbio.org

BEACON

Track biological threats, share vital information, and collaborate on solutions for community protection and preparedness.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I am rarely affected by discourse on social media, but the current wave of posts asserting that Long Covid is psychosomatic has angered me. To be very clear: if you're asserting that LC isn't a physical disease, you're ignorant of science. End of.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The disconnect between the millions of dollars being thrown at biosecurity / biodefense right now and the simultaneous mocking of people wearing masks is so painfully, tragically stark. A respirator is a tool, just like a biosensor or a biological countermeasure.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

A contractor was at my house a few days ago. The last time he was there - about two years ago - he told me that he'd been having some brain fog after Covid. This time, he told me, completely nonchalantly, that he, 'can't remember anything now'. He's ten years younger than me.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

1. New-onset allergies following COVID: 'The Covid 'on switch' Some people are born with a genetic predisposition to allergy. But "it's not all genetics," says Ruchi Gupta, director of the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research at Northwestern University in Illinois...

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Articles like these are emblematic of the institutional amnesia surrounding Covid-19. A pathogen that emerged less than seven years ago, which can cause fatigue during the acute infection and as a common long-term effect, not even mentioned. Conspicuously absent. www.nbcnews.com/health/menta...

nbcnews.com

Why are Americans so tired? CDC report highlights who’s feeling it most

Fatigue is one of the most common concerns reported in primary care visits, yet not much attention is given to how often adults in the U.S. are coping with it.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

1. My mother passed away three years ago today. She died in the early hours of the morning in the nursing home she had lived in from late 2019. The nursing home was, at that point, in a Covid-19 outbreak, the eleventh outbreak in the facility since the pandemic began.

A selfie photograph of my mother and I. We are both smiling. My mother's hair is blond and she is wearing glasses. The chairs of a theatre can be seen behind us.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

The disconnect between the frenetic discourse regarding the potential risk of AIxBio enabled biological weapons being developed and the political reality in the US, where antivaxx ideology is being institutionalised and masking near-demonised is stark.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

1. I am concerned by the very real threat of AI-enabled biological weapons, but also by the current hyper-fixation on their potential development and use. It is vital to remember that highly effective biological weapons could be developed right now with absolutely no AI involved.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

The strange dissonance of sitting in the main entrance foyer of a major hospital in Northern Ireland, with SARS-CoV-2 prevalence increasing here to boot, and seeing hundreds of people walk past, all unmasked, and realising that some of those people are going to get Long Covid.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

'Our findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection can activate an immune program that closely resembles those involved in established autoimmune disorders...'. I have seen this so many times now. New-onset autoimmune disease following COVID-19.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

This is very concerning. www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...

telegraph.co.uk

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

'Vaccination against COVID appeared to have a dose-response protective effect. The more doses workers received before infection, the less likely they were to report prolonged symptoms'. This dose-response effect is why I get vaccinated every six months.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I dislike sharing anecdotes, but I genuinely feel compelled to inform you all that in the past week I have found out that two more people I know have Long Covid, and that a family friend is still shielding. As you all know already, 'normality' is fundamentally a veneer.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

As I'm sure you know by this point, Covid-19 continues to concern me (which is why I take serious measures to avoid infection, including masking in all public indoor spaces). However, no virus concerns me more than H5N1. We are giving this beast too much room. theconversation.com/first-bird-f...

theconversation.com

First bird flu death in an Australian mainland mammal is a grim milestone. We know how bad this can get

The Beachport seal is one animal – for now. But this virus has already shown us what can happen next. Australia should use that warning while we still have time.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

'Furthermore, vaccinated and subsequently challenged cohorts failed to transmit the virus to naïve animals, demonstrating a *complete block of onward transmission*'. * my emphasis. Extraordinarily promising research. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

A single-dose amber codon carrying live attenuated vaccine elicits pan-sarbecovirus immunity and blocks SARS-CoV-2 transmission - npj Vaccines

npj Vaccines - A single-dose amber codon carrying live attenuated vaccine elicits pan-sarbecovirus immunity and blocks SARS-CoV-2 transmission

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

1. A reminder that if you do believe that the Covid-19 pandemic occurred as a result of accidental release from a laboratory, then you're also tacitly acknowledging that said pandemic is an unprecedented event caused by an unprecedented pathogen.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Walking The Boyne Camino in the Republic of Ireland from Drogheda to Mellifont Abbey a couple of days ago.

A photograph of a forest path. The path

stretches from the left foreground of the photograph to the midground, where it turns to the left and out of the frame. The path is crossed by dappled light and edged by fallen leaves. The upper half of the photograph is dominated by the green of trees and the blue of wildflowers. In the right midground of the photograph is a gnarled tree trunk, reminiscent more of a sculpture than a tree, with a yellow arrow painted on it.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

“The biggest problem is that the conclusion doesn't match the data.” Allen said. “If you look strictly at the data, the conclusion is a small HEPA filter that's turned off doesn't work.” www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/can...

cidrap.umn.edu

Can air purifiers prevent flu and COVID-19 in nursing homes? Only if they’re used properly

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

I think it is now very possible that the outbreak in DRC will become the most deadly outbreak of Ebola thus far recorded. A nightmare is unfolding in DRC, and a deadly combination of the virus itself, armed conflict, aid cuts, and misinformation is fueling it. news.sky.com/story/ebola-...

news.sky.com

Ebola outbreak in DR Congo 'fastest on record'

The ongoing outbreak is unlike most previous ones as the Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

'Our ability to smell is linked to brain health, and losing this sense is often one of the first signs of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease'. www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/202...

washingtonpost.com

6 dementia symptoms that can show up years before a diagnosis

Changes to sleep and walking can begin long before cognitive issues.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Hiking from Portbradden to Portballintrae on the North Coast of Northern Ireland earlier today.

A landscape photograph. The foreground is tall grass at the edge of a sea cliff. The right of the shot, from the lower midground all the way to the horizon, is a coastline of winding cliffs, the land above the cliffs intensely green. The ocean dominates the left of the shot, deep blue with white foam at the base of the cliffs. An island can be seen on the horizon to the left of the shot, and the sky is bright blue.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

I was recently diagnosed with glaucoma, detected during a routine optometrist appointment. No symptoms. As I have said many times since 2020, attending routine medical screening is vital, regardless of SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. This early detection could well have saved my vision.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Anecdotal, of course, but I know so many people now whose personalities have changed in subtle but recognisable ways since 2020. I'm positive this is a multifactorial phenomena - trauma, deeply adversarial politics, high cost of living - but I'm sure another factor is infection.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Hiking Glenariff Valley, Northern Ireland, earlier today.

A landscape photograph. The photograph is framed with a compositional diagonal split from the lower left of the shot to the upper right of the shot. The area below the diagonal is predominantly the foreground, dense green grass and foliage leading up to a small rocky cliff edge. The area above the diagonal is the midground and background of the shot, a forest along the slopes of a valley, opening up into fields on the valley floor, the fields hemmed in by distant, sheer cliffs. The valley ends at the coast, with a sliver of sea visible on the horizon. The sky is entirely covered in clouds, low and grey, but the entirety of the landscape is green, slightly muted in tone by the light.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

I was waiting for a train in a major train station in Belfast yesterday, and, to my surprise, I saw a woman walking out of the station wearing a black FFP2 respirator. Seeing people wearing masks here is rare now, but it's telling that my very first thought was, 'she's smart'.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Please consider donating to @nastassjacarnivora.bsky.social 's fundraiser so she can set up her Covid Conscious virtual counselling service. This service would be of immense value!

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Thinking of my late father, George Browne, today. Dad passed away in 1999, aged only 59, but the older I get, the more I realise just how much he taught me. I'll see you on the hills again one day, Pop.

A sepia-toned scan of a photo booth photo.

The photo shows a black-haired man - my father - and a young boy, me.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

With the strong caveat that this is purely anecdotal, I have to say that over the past months it's been increasingly difficult to ignore the sheer number of mistakes people have been making. There's a kind of endemic sloppiness and I think part of it is cognitive dysfunction.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

'Today, following the withdrawal of the US funding for disease surveillance and severe funding shortfalls, contact tracing is reaching fewer than *half* of the contacts'. This is a dire and very dangerous situation. Control is collapsing. *my emphasis. news.sky.com/story/ebola-...

news.sky.com

Ebola: Largest ever outbreak of rare strain 'likely even greater' – and the 'first line of defence' has collapsed

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed the DRC's Bundibugyo outbreak is the largest on record. Oxfam warns the number of cases is likely higher than official figures, as conta...

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Hiking the trail from Dunseverick to Portballintrae earlier today. Northern Ireland is a very beautiful place.

A landscape photograph. The foreground is a carpet of green vegetation - shrubs and brambles. The midground of the photograph is green fields and a rocky coastline, a cliff clearly visible on the right centre of the shot, the coastline snaking from the lower left of the shot to the horizon. The middle left of the shot is the ocean, strikingly blue in the sun, and the sky is full of puffy white clouds. A trail curls around the top of the cliffs to the right of the shot; another hiker is visible on the trail.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

1. Remember that any attempt to paint Long Covid as psychogenic in nature deliberately and completely incorrectly biologically decouples SARS-CoV-2 infection from Long Covid. In essence, this rhetoric shifts the causative factor for LC from the virus to the patient's mind.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Remember that the existence of Long Covid and the fact that millions of people worldwide are suffering from it creates an extraordinary dissonance in the minds of a section of the population who wish to believe the falsity that Covid is no longer dangerous, and perhaps never was.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

'...many patients with long COVID are already receiving care but are not being recognized as having the condition'. Exactly. I know so many people with Long Covid who don't know they have LC but they do know they developed a new condition after acute Covid-19. www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/lon...

cidrap.umn.edu

Long COVID may affect 1 in 6 infected patients

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Belfast Lough and the Belfast Hills from the North Down Coastal Path earlier today.

A landscape photograph. The foreground is a rocky beach, covered in a mixture of pebbles, larger rocks, and sand. To the right of the photograph is the edge of a wood, the bright green leaves on the branches of the trees stretching to the upper left corner of the shot. The coastline and sea can be seen in the right midground of the photograph, and the horizon beyond is a low ridge of hills. The sky is looming with clouds, and a commercial aircraft can be seen flying right to left in the photo.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

I try to stay as professional as possible on here, but the recent spate of tweets I've seen on Twitter / X bemoaning that 'things just haven't been the same since 2020' or similar and then utterly ignoring the ongoing impact of SARS-CoV-2 infuriates me. Denial and ignorance in equal measure.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

In my opinion, the dismantling of USAID by the current US administration is a large part of why the current Ebola outbreak was not detected earlier. There are likely people dead and dying right now who would otherwise not have been. Politics is the greatest biological risk.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

As I'm sure most of you can imagine, I am often asked by friends, colleagues, and clients what I'm most concerned about in terms of global biological risk. Even with everything that's happening right now, my answer remains the same as it was in January 2023: H5N1.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Outstanding day at the British Pig and Poultry Fair 2026 with Ilimex, discussing spillover risks and long-range transmission of H5N1.

A photo of me standing in front of a blue sign that reads, 'Welcome to British Pig & Poultry Fair 2026'. I'm wearing jeans, a blazer, a white shirt, and a black FFP2 mask.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

If there is one word that I have learned to abhor since 2020, it's the word, 'mild'.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

The patient is on Tristan da Cunha. We can only hope that no secondary transmission has occurred there. BBC News - Third British national has suspected hantavirus infection, government says - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Third British national has suspected hantavirus infection, government says

The patient is on the remote Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, which was visited by the cruise ship in April.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

'Dutch broadcaster ‌RTL said the ⁠woman ‌was a stewardess at Dutch airline ⁠KLM, ‌who had been in contact with ⁠a woman who ⁠died from a hantavirus infection in Johannesburg'. Extremely important to confirm whether the patient has hantavirus as soon as possible. www.rte.ie/news/2026/05...

rte.ie

Dutch woman in hospital in possible hantavirus case

A Dutch ⁠woman has been admitted to a hospital in Amsterdam after showing ‌possible symptoms ⁠of a hantavirus infection, the Dutch health has ministry said.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

I think about outbreak scenarios a lot, but I have to admit I've never thought about potential human-human transmission of hantavirus on a cruise ship until now. This is unprecedented, and no doubt an absolutely terrifying situation for those onboard. www.cnn.com/2026/05/05/a...

cnn.com

Human-to-human transmission suspected on board hantavirus cruise ship, WHO says | CNN

Some human-to-human transmission may have occurred on board the cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak that has left three people dead and several others ill, the World Health Organization (WHO) sai...

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Hiking the Cooley Mountains earlier today - Sliabh Feá, from the summit of Barnavave.

A landscape photograph. The foreground of the shot is the rocky summit of a hill, slabs of grey rock visible on the ground. To the centre right of the midground of the shot is a high hill with a dark, rocky summit - Sliabh Feá, the highest point in County Louth, Ireland. A trail can be seen snaking up the hill from the right of the shot. The terrain below Sliabh Feá is green - in the way that only Ireland is green - and undulating, with a low ridge visible on the horizon. The sky is bright blue in the gaps between the clouds.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

I rarely share anecdotes, making an exception here. I've spoken to too many people recently who have developed chronic health problems that are temporally correlated with a recent Covid infection but who weren't aware that Covid was likely the cause. No idea they had Long Covid.

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Conor Browne @brownecfm.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

1. A perfect storm of the social determinants of health (the NHS is in an appalling state in the UK, meaning people who can afford to are more likely to use private care) and the fact that the myriad sequelae of infection are simply not being recognised here. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

theguardian.com

People in UK spend fewer years in good health than a decade ago, study finds

Exclusive: Health Foundation says Britain is ‘going backwards’ compared with most other rich countries

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