The evidence behind the view.

Three different kinds of information

Reports are articles, bulletins and travel notices retrieved from configured feeds. Their disease and place tags indicate what the text mentions. Events are reviewed summaries with linked evidence and a stated status. Clinical observations are dated numbers whose definitions, geography and source are preserved.

An official publisher can describe a suspected event. “Official source” therefore does not automatically mean “confirmed diagnosis.” Media reports remain attributed to their publisher.

Collection and coverage

The collector reads WHO Disease Outbreak News, ECDC feeds, CDC travel notices and disease-specific news searches. Sources are listed on the connections page. Several news searches use Google News; they share one aggregation provider.

Coverage is not exhaustive. WHO itself explains that its outbreak news is not a complete list of events worldwide. Language, access, publication delays, feed size and reporting capacity affect what appears. No reporting from a country does not establish that the country is disease-free.

News is retained for a rolling 90-day window with published storage limits. Notices that remain listed by the source are handled separately from ordinary news. A listed travel notice does not prove that every earlier local outbreak is still active.

Geography and the map

Reviewed event locations come from their cited evidence. News geography uses explicit place mentions and a country catalogue. Ambiguous locations can remain unmapped while their reports stay searchable. Country or regional markers represent approximate areas, not patient addresses.

A bulletin mentioning several diseases and countries does not establish every possible pairing between them. The desk does not draw inferred transmission routes. Map geometry uses Natural Earth through world-atlas and does not express a position on disputed boundaries.

Clinical numbers

Numbers are shown with their territory, reporting period, definition and source. We do not infer cases from article volume. We do not calculate current infections by subtracting deaths from cumulative cases. Overlapping national and regional totals are not added together.

Reviewed figures update when their evidence is reviewed. Automatic numerical updates require a specific validated source adapter; a news refresh is not a clinical-data refresh. Any missing figure remains explicitly unavailable.

Failures remain visible

Checks record the actual HTTP result, duration and last successful retrieval. Failed sources retain previously saved reporting. Backoff and publisher retry limits are respected. A delayed source does not create an “all clear” signal.

Inspectable implementation

The public source snapshot contains the application and collection logic. It excludes credentials, account settings and stored reports. Source code helps explain the implementation; health authorities and linked reporting remain the evidence for each claim.

Reading the desk responsibly

Outbreak Desk provides general information and is independent of the authorities it cites. For decisions about symptoms, exposure or travel, use current guidance from your health authority and a qualified professional. Start with the practical guide.