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Data sources & methodology

How The Outbreak compiles, labels, and presents outbreak reporting.

Data status

Figures reflect the Irkutsk Oblast event reported from October 2, 2026: one laboratory worker died of severe pneumonia (suspected pneumonic plague; officially "unknown aetiology") and about 189 contacts are under three-week observation. Numbers are compiled by hand from news reports (The Moscow Times, Kyiv Independent, Times of India, BEACON) and are not official surveillance data. Some details, such as hospital closures, are unverified.

Live sources

  • WHO Disease Outbreak News — fetched live server-side for the bulletins feed.
  • ProMED-mail — recommended primary source for early, unofficial outbreak reports.
  • Map tiles: OpenStreetMap contributors via CARTO dark basemap.

Methodology

Regional figures are normalized into a single shape — region, coordinates, cases, deaths, recoveries, severity — so any surveillance API (disease.sh-style, WHO, national health ministries) can replace the placeholder dataset without changing the interface. Growth rate compares the last 7 days against the previous 7. Case fatality rate is deaths divided by confirmed cases.