Lead outbreak file
Hantavirus and cruise-ship outbreak
New source(s) joined this story cluster: CNN, CP24.
The Edge of Epidemiology • Infectious disease intelligence desk
The Pathogen Dispatch
by The Edge of Epidemiology
Search filters the visible cards on this page and the archive list.
Live story file
Avian influenza and H5N1
Baseline snapshot created with 2 clustered item(s) across 1 source(s).
Live story file
Tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance
Baseline snapshot created with 2 clustered item(s) across 2 source(s).
Use the desk switcher to move between briefing, tracking, reference, and archive. Search temporarily opens everything.
Morning Briefing
The front page for today’s outbreak picture: one dominant lead, supporting developments, and the compact reading list below it.
Executive Scan
- Stoltzfus Family Dairy Recalls Sour Cream and Onion Cheese Curds Because of Possible Health Risk
- Serologic Evidence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus Infection in a Veterinary Professional Exposed to an Infected Domestic Cat - Los Angeles County, California, December 2024-January 2025
- 59 000 deaths: Europe off track for Sustainable Development Goal targets for HIV, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, and STIs
- Neutralizing epitope mapping for deltacoronavirus receptor-binding domain and seroepidemiological survey across different animal species.
- JCB Flavors, LLC Issues Voluntary Recall of Topical Seasonings Due to Potential Health Risk
- Cruise ship hantavirus outbreak: ECDC response activated
- FDA outbreak investigation 1369: E. coli O157:H7 linked to Raw Cheddar Cheese
- FDA outbreak investigation 1358: Salmonella Typhimurium & Newport linked to Moringa Leaf Powder
- 2 source(s) failed during collection: USDA APHIS Avian Influenza, California Department of Public Health News.
Highest Priority Items
Lead file • Outbreaks and emerging infections
Stoltzfus Family Dairy Recalls Sour Cream and Onion Cheese Curds Because of Possible Health Risk
Stoltzfus Family Dairy of Vernon Center, NY is recalling Sour Cream & Onion cheese curds because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune
Why it matters: Directly relevant to outbreak detection, transmission monitoring, or response. Comes from an official or primary-source channel.
Caveats / uncertainty: The summary stays close to the source language and should be read as an initial source note, not a final interpretation.
Occupational and environmental epidemiology
Serologic Evidence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus Infection in a Veterinary Professional Exposed to an Infected Domestic Cat - Los Angeles County, California, December 2024-January 2025
During November 2024–January 2025, a total of 139 persons exposed to 19 A(H5N1)-infected domestic cats that consumed raw animal products were identified in Los Angeles County, California. Levine 4 ; Jamie Middleton 3, *; Annabelle de St. Maurice 2, * ( View author affiliations ) Transmission of influenza A(H5N1) viruses from domestic cats to humans has not been documented.
Policy, surveillance, and public health infrastructure
59 000 deaths: Europe off track for Sustainable Development Goal targets for HIV, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, and STIs
More action remains necessary to prevent thousands of annual deaths and slow the rising number of STI diagnoses across Europe. Despite advancements in detection and treatment, a new report reveals severe shortfalls in reaching the indicators for the Sustainable Development Goal target for HIV, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by 2030.
Major epidemiology studies
Neutralizing epitope mapping for deltacoronavirus receptor-binding domain and seroepidemiological survey across different animal species.
Evaluation of 150 clinical samples demonstrated that bELISA-1C12 exhibited 93.3% concordance with a virus neutralization test (VNT), indicating higher diagnostic sensitivity than bELISA-3A11 (92.7%). A large-scale serosurvey of pig populations across ten Chinese provinces in 2025, conducted using bELISA-1C12, revealed a PDCoV seropositivity rate of 13.6%. This study identifies key antigenic epitopes on the PDCoV RBD and provides valuable tools for epidemiological surveillance and assessing the transmission risk of PDCoV.
DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2026.2668161
Outbreaks and emerging infections
JCB Flavors, LLC Issues Voluntary Recall of Topical Seasonings Due to Potential Health Risk
JCB Flavors, LLC of Watertown, Wisconsin, is voluntarily recalling select topical seasoning products due to the potential presence of Salmonella, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, elderly individuals, and those with weakened immune systems.
Active Tracking
Live outbreak files, movement since the last run, and the region-by-region watch that turns this into a working desk.
Major Story Files
Major story file
Hantavirus and cruise-ship outbreak
New source(s) joined this story cluster: CNN, CP24.
Major story file
Avian influenza and H5N1
Baseline snapshot created with 2 clustered item(s) across 1 source(s).
Major story file
Tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance
Baseline snapshot created with 2 clustered item(s) across 2 source(s).
Ongoing Stories And What Changed
Tracked Story
Hantavirus and cruise-ship outbreak
Cruise ship hantavirus outbreak: ECDC response activated
Newly tracked 27 item(s) across 17 source(s).
- New source(s) joined this story cluster: CNN, CP24.
- Story volume increased from 26 to 27 clustered item(s) in the current window.
Tracked Story
Avian influenza and H5N1
- Baseline snapshot created with 2 clustered item(s) across 1 source(s).
- CDC MMWR now includes deaths or fatal cases in the story frame.
Tracked Story
Tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance
- Baseline snapshot created with 2 clustered item(s) across 2 source(s).
- ECDC News now includes deaths or fatal cases in the story frame.
Regional Watch
Regional outbreak watch
North America
- Serologic Evidence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus Infection in a Veterinary Professional Exposed to an Infected Domestic Cat - Los Angeles County, California, December 2024-January 2025
- Stoltzfus Family Dairy Recalls Sour Cream and Onion Cheese Curds Because of Possible Health Risk
- JCB Flavors, LLC Issues Voluntary Recall of Topical Seasonings Due to Potential Health Risk
- Lawmakers ask Kennedy about blocked COVID vaccine study
- Fatal Human Case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N5) in a Backyard Flock Owner
Regional outbreak watch
Europe
Regional outbreak watch
Cross-region / unassigned
- Neutralizing epitope mapping for deltacoronavirus receptor-binding domain and seroepidemiological survey across different animal species.
- FDA outbreak investigation 1369: E. coli O157:H7 linked to Raw Cheddar Cheese
- FDA outbreak investigation 1358: Salmonella Typhimurium & Newport linked to Moringa Leaf Powder
- FDA outbreak investigation 1365: Salmonella Newport & Kentucky linked to Moringa Powder
- FDA outbreak investigation 1350: Clostridium botulinum linked to Infant Formula
Regional outbreak watch
Global / Maritime
Reference Desk
The evergreen layer: disease intelligence sheets, major outbreaks on file, papers worth saving, and the historical corner.
Reference Desk
Reference page
Hantavirus syndrome
Pathogen: Hantaviruses, including Andes virus in the Americas
Transmission: Rodent exposure; limited person-to-person transmission has been documented for Andes virus
Reference page
Measles
Pathogen: Measles virus
Transmission: Airborne and respiratory
Reference page
Avian influenza A(H5N1)
Pathogen: Influenza A(H5N1)
Transmission: Animal-to-human exposure; no sustained person-to-person spread identified in the cited U.S. outbreak
Reference page
Mpox
Pathogen: Monkeypox virus, including clade Ib and clade IIb
Transmission: Close physical contact, including sexual contact; household and healthcare transmission also occur
Reference page
Poliomyelitis / cVDPV2
Pathogen: Poliovirus, especially circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 in the cited event
Transmission: Fecal-oral, water and sanitation linked
Reference page
Cholera
Pathogen: Vibrio cholerae
Transmission: Waterborne and sanitation linked
Reference page
Dengue
Pathogen: Dengue virus
Transmission: Aedes mosquitoes
Reference page
Yellow fever
Pathogen: Yellow fever virus
Transmission: Mosquito-borne
Last Major Outbreaks On File
Last major outbreak on file
Hantavirus syndrome
Pathogen: Hantaviruses, including Andes virus in the Americas
Transmission: Rodent exposure; limited person-to-person transmission has been documented for Andes virus
Cruise-ship linked cluster — WHO reported seven cases, including two laboratory-confirmed infections, three deaths, one critically ill patient and three mild suspected cases linked to cruise-ship travel.
Source: WHO Disease Outbreak News
Desk note: Useful for rare severe respiratory clusters with rodent ecology or unusual travel-linked spread.
- Andes virus outbreaks in Argentina and Chile remain the canonical example of limited person-to-person hantavirus transmission.
Last major outbreak on file
Measles
Pathogen: Measles virus
Transmission: Airborne and respiratory
United States resurgence — CDC's national measles summary reported 2,288 confirmed U.S. measles cases in 2025, with most cases outbreak-associated and many linked to outbreaks that crossed jurisdictions.
Source: CDC Measles Cases and Outbreaks
Desk note: This is the disease to watch when vaccination gaps, school clusters, or travel-linked introductions begin to stack.
- 2019 Democratic Republic of the Congo epidemic.
- 2019 Samoa outbreak.
Last major outbreak on file
Avian influenza A(H5N1)
Pathogen: Influenza A(H5N1)
Transmission: Animal-to-human exposure; no sustained person-to-person spread identified in the cited U.S. outbreak
Multistate U.S. dairy and poultry outbreak — CDC described an ongoing multistate H5N1 outbreak in dairy cows, poultry and other animals, with 70 confirmed human infections in the United States since April 2024 and no identified person-to-person spread.
Source: CDC Bird Flu Response Update
Desk note: A top-tier reporter desk disease because animal, occupational, food-system and pandemic-risk lines all converge here.
- The current U.S. dairy-cattle episode changed the global H5N1 surveillance frame by moving the story deeper into mammalian agriculture.
Last major outbreak on file
Mpox
Pathogen: Monkeypox virus, including clade Ib and clade IIb
Transmission: Close physical contact, including sexual contact; household and healthcare transmission also occur
Broader clade Ib transmission — WHO reported broader transmission of clade Ib mpox, including locally acquired infections in multiple WHO regions and continued substantial outbreaks in African countries.
Source: WHO Disease Outbreak News
Desk note: The key distinction to preserve is clade, mode of spread, and whether cases are travel-linked or locally acquired.
- The 2022 multi-country clade IIb outbreak remains the watershed event for modern global mpox reporting.
Last major outbreak on file
Poliomyelitis / cVDPV2
Pathogen: Poliovirus, especially circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 in the cited event
Transmission: Fecal-oral, water and sanitation linked
cVDPV2 detection in healthy children and environment — WHO classified the Papua New Guinea cVDPV2 detections as a polio outbreak after linked type 2 poliovirus was found in environmental samples and in stool specimens from two healthy children in Morobe province.
Source: WHO Disease Outbreak News
Desk note: Environmental detections matter here even when paralytic disease is not yet evident.
- Papua New Guinea also experienced a cVDPV1 outbreak in 2018.
Last major outbreak on file
Cholera
Pathogen: Vibrio cholerae
Transmission: Waterborne and sanitation linked
Ongoing global cholera upsurge — WHO's epidemiological update #36 reported 18,715 new cholera and acute watery diarrhoea cases and 269 deaths in February 2026 across 17 countries, with the highest burden in the African Region.
Source: WHO Cholera Epidemiological Update #36
Desk note: One of the clearest diseases where fragile infrastructure, displacement and mortality can move fast enough to outrun media attention.
- The current WHO framing treats cholera as a prolonged global upsurge rather than a single isolated event.
Last major outbreak on file
Dengue
Pathogen: Dengue virus
Transmission: Aedes mosquitoes
Unprecedented global 2024 surge — WHO's 2024 update recorded 14,434,584 dengue cases worldwide, including 11,201 deaths, with more than 90% of reported cases coming from the Region of the Americas.
Source: WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record
Desk note: This belongs near the top of any global outbreak desk because climate, vector range and urban vulnerability all keep widening the playing field.
- Brazil alone reported more than 10 million cases in the cited WHO 2024 update.
Last major outbreak on file
Yellow fever
Pathogen: Yellow fever virus
Transmission: Mosquito-borne
Americas resurgence — WHO reported 212 confirmed yellow fever cases and 85 deaths in the Americas as of late April 2025, a threefold increase over 2024 totals.
Source: WHO Disease Outbreak News
Desk note: When sylvatic transmission escapes its expected geography, this deserves very fast escalation.
- The cited WHO update notes spread beyond the Amazon region into places such as Sao Paulo and Tolima.
Last major outbreak on file
Chikungunya
Pathogen: Chikungunya virus
Transmission: Aedes mosquitoes
2025 global resurgence — WHO reported 445,271 suspected and confirmed chikungunya cases and 155 deaths globally between 1 January and 30 September 2025, with outbreaks and resurgence across 40 countries.
Source: WHO Disease Outbreak News
Desk note: A good desk will watch chikungunya alongside dengue because the vectors, differential and public-health burden overlap.
- The 2005-2006 La Reunion epidemic remains one of the signature modern chikungunya reference points.
Last major outbreak on file
Ebola virus disease
Pathogen: Ebola virus
Transmission: Direct contact with blood, body fluids or contaminated materials
Kasai Province outbreak — WHO reported 64 Ebola cases, including 45 deaths, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo outbreak that ended on 1 December 2025 after 42 days without a new confirmed case.
Source: WHO Disease Outbreak News
Desk note: Nosocomial spread and funeral amplification remain crucial reporting clues.
- West Africa 2014-2016 remains the defining modern Ebola catastrophe.
Last major outbreak on file
Marburg virus disease
Pathogen: Marburg virus
Transmission: Direct contact with body fluids, contaminated materials and infected animal reservoirs
First recorded Ethiopian outbreak — WHO reported 19 total Marburg cases, including 14 confirmed and 14 deaths overall when probable cases are included, in Ethiopia's first recognized Marburg outbreak.
Source: WHO Disease Outbreak News
Desk note: Any unexplained hemorrhagic fever cluster in East Africa now has a slightly wider differential than it did a few years ago.
- The first recognized Ethiopian outbreak widened the modern Marburg geography.
Last major outbreak on file
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)
Pathogen: MERS-CoV
Transmission: Camel-to-human spillover and close-contact spread, especially in healthcare settings
Global update with Saudi and travel-associated French cases — WHO reported 19 MERS cases and four deaths globally in 2025 through 21 December, including healthcare-linked transmission in Saudi Arabia and imported cases in France.
Source: WHO Disease Outbreak News
Desk note: For newsroom use, the hospital-cluster angle is often more important than the raw case count.
- The 2015 Republic of Korea outbreak remains the classic reminder that travel-linked hospital amplification can globalize a regional virus.
Last major outbreak on file
Anthrax
Pathogen: Bacillus anthracis
Transmission: Contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products
Cattle-linked cutaneous anthrax cluster — WHO reported confirmed human anthrax cases linked to cattle slaughter in Thailand, including at least one death and multiple hospitalized cutaneous anthrax cases.
Source: WHO Disease Outbreak News
Desk note: Anthrax belongs in the desk because agricultural exposure clusters are often deeply local and easy to miss.
- This was the first reported anthrax death in Thailand since 1994, according to WHO.
Last major outbreak on file
Rift Valley fever
Pathogen: Rift Valley fever virus
Transmission: Mosquito-borne and direct animal exposure
West African cross-border outbreak — WHO reported 404 confirmed human Rift Valley fever cases and 42 deaths across Mauritania and Senegal, with continued concern about mosquito ecology and livestock movement.
Source: WHO Disease Outbreak News
Desk note: This is classic One Health territory: weather, vectors, herds and human illness all move together.
- Cross-border livestock movement is one of the recurring reasons RVF repeatedly defeats narrow national framing.
Last major outbreak on file
Oropouche virus disease
Pathogen: Oropouche virus
Transmission: Midge and mosquito bites
Americas expansion — WHO reported 11,634 confirmed Oropouche cases and two deaths across ten countries and one territory as of 25 November 2024, with regional spread into places not previously reporting cases.
Source: WHO Disease Outbreak News
Desk note: Worth keeping visible because it can hide inside dengue-like syndrome surveillance.
- The 2024 expansion mattered because it turned Oropouche from a niche arbovirus story into a continental surveillance story.
Last major outbreak on file
Diphtheria
Pathogen: Corynebacterium diphtheriae
Transmission: Respiratory droplets and close contact
African Region multi-country outbreak — WHO reported 20,412 suspected diphtheria cases and 1,252 deaths across eight African countries in 2025, with Nigeria carrying the largest share of the burden.
Source: WHO Disease Outbreak News
Desk note: Diphtheria should function as a vaccination-systems alarm bell in this product.
- The scale and prolonged under-immunized burden make this more than a one-country story.
Last major outbreak on file
Zika virus disease
Pathogen: Zika virus
Transmission: Aedes mosquitoes; vertical and sexual transmission also documented
Brazil-centered Americas epidemic — WHO's fact sheet still anchors the defining recent major Zika outbreak in the Brazil-led 2015 epidemic that triggered the 2016 PHEIC over microcephaly and congenital abnormalities.
Source: WHO Fact Sheet
Desk note: For a reporter desk, congenital impact matters as much as raw incident case counts.
- WHO notes that transmission persists at low levels in several countries even after the peak epidemic passed.
Last major outbreak on file
Nipah virus disease
Pathogen: Nipah virus
Transmission: Bat spillover, contaminated food exposure, and person-to-person spread in close-contact settings
Kerala cluster — Recent South Asian Nipah reporting has continued to center on Kerala, where public-health responses have emphasized rapid contact tracing, hospital precautions, and fruit-bat spillover concern.
Source: WHO disease information
Desk note: Nipah deserves special attention because respiratory and encephalitic framing can shift fast, and hospital spread matters.
- Bangladesh and India outbreaks remain the core modern human-to-human Nipah reference points.
Last major outbreak on file
Legionnaires' disease
Pathogen: Legionella bacteria, especially Legionella pneumophila
Transmission: Aerosolized contaminated water; not usually person-to-person
Building and facility clusters — Legionnaires' disease remains a recurring built-environment outbreak problem, with cases often linked to cooling towers, healthcare facilities, hotels, and complex water systems rather than a single modern global event.
Source: CDC overview
Desk note: This is a strong reporter-desk disease because it sits at the intersection of environmental systems, hospitals, and local accountability.
- Facility-linked outbreaks are often underappreciated until environmental investigation catches up.
Last major outbreak on file
Pertussis
Pathogen: Bordetella pertussis
Transmission: Respiratory droplets
Post-pandemic resurgence pattern — Recent pertussis reporting has reflected broader post-pandemic resurgence patterns, with public-health attention on school clusters, infant protection, and under-recognition in older age groups.
Source: CDC overview
Desk note: Worth keeping on the desk because infant risk, school spread, and booster debates all make it newsy.
- Pertussis repeatedly reminds reporters that vaccine-preventable does not mean epidemiologically solved.
Last major outbreak on file
Meningococcal disease
Pathogen: Neisseria meningitidis
Transmission: Respiratory and close-contact spread
Expanding meningitis belt pressure — WHO and regional reporting have continued to emphasize recurrent meningococcal meningitis pressure across meningitis-belt countries, where serogroup shifts and strained health systems can rapidly change outbreak control needs.
Source: WHO meningitis fact sheet
Desk note: This belongs on the desk because local clusters can become national panic stories very quickly.
- Serogroup changes have repeatedly altered the control picture across the African meningitis belt.
Last major outbreak on file
Malaria
Pathogen: Plasmodium parasites, especially Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax
Transmission: Anopheles mosquitoes
Persistent high-burden global transmission — WHO's recent malaria reporting continues to frame malaria less as a single outbreak than as a persistent high-burden transmission crisis shaped by insecticide resistance, climate variability, and health-system fragility.
Source: WHO malaria fact sheet
Desk note: Malaria deserves broader retrieval because a lot of important rural transmission news never gets framed as a headline outbreak.
- For a desk product, seasonal or conflict-linked malaria spikes matter even when they are under-covered as news.
Last major outbreak on file
Norovirus
Pathogen: Norovirus
Transmission: Fecal-oral, foodborne, waterborne, and environmental contamination
Recurring cruise and institutional outbreaks — Norovirus remains one of the most recurrent outbreak categories for cruise ships, schools, and long-term-care facilities, with rapid attack rates and heavy local reporting but inconsistent national attention.
Source: CDC overview
Desk note: This is one of the most reliable high-volume local outbreak categories and should be surfaced more aggressively.
- Cruise-ship outbreaks keep reminding editors that enormous audience interest can attach to pathogens that are usually medically self-limited.
Last major outbreak on file
Hepatitis A
Pathogen: Hepatitis A virus
Transmission: Fecal-oral, foodborne, and close-contact spread
Recurrent foodborne and community outbreaks — Modern hepatitis A reporting repeatedly centers on foodborne clusters and prolonged community transmission in settings with sanitation stress or low vaccination coverage.
Source: CDC overview
Desk note: Hepatitis A is a good example of a disease that toggles between local sanitation story, foodborne recall story, and vaccination story.
- Large U.S. person-to-person outbreaks in the late 2010s remain an important recent reference point.
Last major outbreak on file
Rabies
Pathogen: Rabies virus and related lyssaviruses
Transmission: Animal bites and saliva exposure
Persistent rural dog-mediated burden — WHO continues to frame rabies as a preventable but still deadly disease concentrated in underserved settings where dog vaccination and post-exposure prophylaxis access remain inadequate.
Source: WHO fact sheet
Desk note: This is exactly the kind of severe rural infectious-disease burden that can disappear if the intake is too urban and too English-headline dependent.
- For desk purposes, rabies matters because devastating local stories keep happening even when rich-country editors barely notice.
Archive And Retrieval
The browseable backfile for prior briefings, with year-month-day navigation that behaves like a publication archive rather than a utility dump.
Dossier Archive
Archive Desk Notes
Why use the backfile
Use the archive when you care about when a story entered the dossier, how the frame changed, or what the desk looked like on a specific date.
Search behavior
Search still spans archive links and live cards together, so you can move between today’s desk and the backfile without changing tools.