John Ross

@johnrossmd.bsky.social

13307 Followers 2405 Following

Canadian in Boston. Hospitalist. FIDSA. An Seanduine Liath. #IDSky

On July 17, 2026, Taylor Farms de Mexico recalled all iceberg lettuces sourced from central Mexico. CDC, public health and regulatory officials in several states, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are continuing to collect different types of data to investigate a multistate outbreak of Cyclospora infections. Epidemiologic and traceback data show that iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico is contaminated with Cyclospora and is making people sick.
Mayor Vaughn from Jaws
Shipwrecked on Ithaca by a storm, Telegonus believed mistakenly that he had made landfall on Corcyra (Corfu) and, assailed by hunger, began plundering the island. Odysseus and his oldest son, Telemachus, defended their city and, in the ensuing melée, Telegonus accidentally killed his father with a lance tipped with the venomous spine of a stingray. Telemachus married Telegonus' mother, the enchantress Circe, while Telegonus took to wife Odysseus' widow Penelope.
The US has 11 motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 of population, about double the average in wealthy countries
Genevieve Bujold walking through a roomful of patients on life support artfully suspended from the ceiling in the 1978 thriller Coma
843 cases of cyclosporiasis so far this summer in the US; this is almost certainly a gross undercount due to public health underfunding and the low diagnostic sensitivity of microscopy
To win the World Cup, Canada would likely have to beat Netherlands, France, Spain, and Argentina
Engraving of Uriah Heep by Harry Furniss, from an early edition of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Bell, anticipating Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow: “The experienced physician and the trained surgeon every day, in their examinations of the humblest patient, have to go through a similar process of reasoning, quick or slow according to the personal equations of each, almost automatic in the experienced man, laboured and often erratic in the tyro, yet requiring just the same simple requisites, senses to notice facts, and education and intelligence to apply them," he noted. With proper training, anyone could become a Sherlock Holmes.
Advance copy of Sleuth-Hound: The Case of the Real Sherlock Holmes, by Lindsey Fitzharris
Four years ago, when the InterIsland Public Health Excellence Collaboration hired Roden-Reynolds, he found lone star ticks mostly in the island’s less populous southern stretches. Now they’re everywhere. In 2021, Martha’s Vineyard Hospital ran 78 tests for alpha gal. Last year, the number topped 1,600; about 44 percent were positive.
Paperback edition of Play It As It Lays, by Joan Didion
Coronal image from CT scan of abdomen, showing accessory spleen (splenunculus)
RFK Jr in 3/4 profile
February 4, 2020: Coronavirus ‘not something to panic about,’ says Berkeley health expert Though cases in China may exceed current reports, infectious disease specialist John Swartzberg believes the United States is well equipped to face the outbreak
The median reproductive number (the number of secondary cases caused by an infected person during the infectious period) was 2.12 before the control measures were enforced and decreased to 0.96 after the measures were implemented.
Humans usually become infected with hantaviruses through inhalation of aerosolized excreta produced by infected rodents. ANDV is the unique hantavirus capable of being transmitted from person-to-person (5–7). Infection by this route takes place during the early prodromal phase, and the incubation period ranges from 9 to 40 days (8).
Ben Affleck smoking meme
Screenshot from https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/24/health/newer-testing-silent-spread-measles-elimination A separate EIS investigation of measles in wastewater from Oregon found that the virus was detected 100 times between October and February, in 23 of 24 monitored counties. Oregon had six reported cases of measles during that time, but all of these were outside the areas that were being monitored for the virus. “The number and spread of detection suggests measles is more widespread than the six reported cases that we have,” Dr. Jeffrey Tamucci, an EIS officer assigned to the Oregon Public Health Authority, said in a conference presentation. “It begs the question, why are there missing clinical cases? Is it a sick person that does not seek care? A patient being diagnosed with other illnesses? Providers not testing those with clinically compatible symptoms? Or something else?” Tamucci said. “We don’t know for sure. We’re still trying to figure that out.”
"Introduction of the Gout," George Cruikshank, 1818. A rich man gorges himself on food and drink (including a pineapple, a signifier of extreme luxury), while a demon applies a coal to his big toe (leading to inflammation of the 1st metatarsal joint, or podagra). A picture on the wall of Vesuvius erupting indicates that a gouty attack is imminent.
According to evolutionary geneticist Eske Willerslev, "There was a heavy reduction of Neolithic DNA in temperate Europe, and a dramatic increase of the new Yamnaya genomic component that was only marginally present in Europe prior to 3000 BC."
Grinning white men of indeterminate age wearing fatigues and holding automatic weapons, against a red oxide background reminiscent of the murals of Pompeii
An indoor pineapple
Sinner at the throne of judgment: I spent my whole life doing good works! God in the anti-Catholic Chick comic Last Rites: "By grace are ye saved...not of works"
A very young JLG mansplains in Raybans
Anne Goupil: What do they want? Philip Kaufman: Power, world domination. A nice, worldwide concentration camp.
Rover, a large white police balloon, attacking Patrick McGoohan in the 1967 cult TV program The Prisoner
Graph showing that the number of American hospitalists accepting money or gifts from opioid manufacturers went from a few dozen in 2020 to over a 1000 in 2023
Apple trees girdled by rabbits
L’Anse aux Meadows, a Viking settlement in Newfoundland dating to 1021 AD
Audacious fake news from British tabloid: GORDON RAMSAY SEX DWARF EATEN BY BADGER
Uberdorks Peter Thiel and Elon Musk
A Penguin Books paperback of The Secret History by Procopius
Nepal's MADDEST Mad Honey Made by Himalayan giant bees that forage on a specific species of Rhododendron flowers. Contains Grayanotoxins found in Rhododendron nectar. Our real mad honey is only available in limited batches. $114 USD for 3.5 oz
Map of Northern Athabaskan (Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories, BC, AB,SK) and Southern Athabaskan (US Southwest) language families
Life expectancy in the US during COVID dropped to 1996 levels
Matheson said he asked for a doctor while at the resort and was told that normally, a visit to diagnose four people would cost $900. However, they said would be free in exchange for signing a document that required him not to talk about his experience. He didn’t sign it. “I know people are trying to run a business. But we’re human beings. We have kids, families, and lives. To try to silence what’s going on, it feels like they’re trying to silence it more than fix the problem,” he said. Christina Wishlow said she was also presented with a similar document, often called a non-disclosure agreement or an NDA, in December in a dispute with the hotel after her family fell ill. The contract says that the hotel guest “shall not directly or indirectly disclose the Incident or any other perceived negative experience relating to the Incident to anyone in any way,” adding that “it is the intention of the parties to avoid and prevent publicity.” The payment to the hotel guest in the contract is 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, which adds up to about $200. Wishlow says she didn’t sign. “This was a terrifying experience,” she said. “Clearly they’re not trying to fix the problem, they’re trying to hide it.”
Kash Patel guzzling beer in the Team USA locker room after the gold medal game
Pita wrap containing beef strips, tomato, and a sauce made of condensed milk and a hella lot of sugar
Poutine (French fries and cheese curds soaked in gravy)
Official CDC guidance on facial hair which is mask-compatible (clean shaven, pencil moustache, soul patch, Zorro, Zappa etc) and mask-incompatible (muttonchops, chin curtain, wet noodle, full beard, hulihee etc)
The "European Broadcasting Area" is bounded on the west by the western boundary of Region 1, on the east by the meridian 40° East of Greenwich and on the south by the parallel 30° North so as to include the northern part of Saudi Arabia and that part of those countries bordering the Mediterranean within these limits. In addition, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and those parts of the territories of Iraq, Jordan, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey and Ukraine lying outside the above limits are included in the European Broadcasting Area.
Empire of Madness: Reimagining Western Mental Health Care for Everyone, by Khameer Kidia
Forty-four databases (54%) were current, and 38 (46%) were paused. Thirty-four of the 38 databases (89%) had no data entries dated within 6 months of the date of analysis, whereas 4 (11%) paused more recently. Of the 38 paused databases, 33 (87%) were vaccination-related topics compared with none of the 44 current databases. Of the 5 paused databases on other topics, 4 addressed respiratory diseases, including disease burden and nonvaccine prevention measures, whereas 1 addressed public health (drug overdose deaths). The persistence of pauses as of 2 December 2025 was examined. Only 1 of the 38 paused databases had been updated.
[mysterious old lady flips tarot card revealing a dude who looks exactly like me flying a hot air balloon into power lines] Me: is that good
Cow tools, from the infamous Far Side cartoon
Two thumbs up from Hide the Pain Harold!
JPL in Out 1
Boston's North End on January 15, 1915, devastated by a tsunami of viscous death
Seasonality of shellfish poisoning in Florida, 1981-1994. Monthly distribution of oyster-associated V. vulnificus illness (or shellfish poisoning) and deaths occurring in Florida from 1981 to 1994. Over the 14-year period higher numbers of cases occurred during summer. Monitoring in Florida shows a statistically significant association between concentrations of this pathogen in estuaries and temperature and salinity, the latter being affected by rainfall and runoff. Adapted from Lipp and Rose (77).
Ongoing Salmonella outbreak associated with raw oysters. Most cases occurred in a month containing an "R."
Aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease got a D grade in the 2022 United States Preventive Services Task Force guidelines
Male models wearing inflatable latex pants designed by Harikrishnan
Day two of his work with Maher consisted of more of the same, plus “a technique called Ma Xing,” which featured Maher walking up and down the backs of Joseph’s thighs. (On his website, Maher writes that “Ma Xing means horse stomping.”) In Transcend Fear, Ladapo recounts the experience in detail: The discomfort I experienced as he stomped on me was intense, and I went from feeling acute pain to feeling a sense of enjoyment, and—as incredible as it must sound—at one point, I even felt like a tiger. Christopher explained that this was my spirit animal. As I learned from him, Ma Xing engages the urinary bladder channel, which is the master channel in Chinese meridian theory. Further, he explained that this channel has access to every aspect of a human being’s behavior and thoughts, including their mind, brain, physical being, spiritual energy, and emotional intelligence.
Cover of Coverage Denied: How Health Carr Insurers Drive Inequality in the United States by Miranda Yaver, published by Cambridge University Press. Now in print!
Giacinto Cestoni, an aging, sage-looking 17th-century physician. He has long grey hair, and is wearing a skullcap and black robe. No portrait of his collaborator Giovanni Bonomi has survived.
A supporter of universal healthcare, Nelson Rockefeller served as consultant for Senator Jacob Javits' "Medicare for All" bill that would expand benefits to every American. Rockefeller described universal healthcare as the wave of the future and as a human right.
8.1% increase in positive flu tests this past week (trending steadily up). 3.2% of medical visits this past week due to respiratory illness.