FRCPath Medical Microbiology exam guidance
Practical help for Part 1 and Part 2, with curated resources, exam tips, and structured learning pathways.
If you want to know more about the exam, click on the buttons below. This is based on my 12 years of experience supporting trainees in the UK and guiding numerous overseas trainees.
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Microregistrar Infection NewsletterMicroregistrar Infection Newsletter — Sunday Weekly Edition · Sunday 11 October 2026
Prefilled saline flushes linked to 16 Ralstonia bloodstream infections in 7 German hospitals.
Eurosurveillance reports a nosocomial Ralstonia mannitolilytica outbreak in Germany (Mar–Sep 2026): 16 cgMLST-linked bloodstream infection cases across 7 hospitals, linked to prefilled saline flush syringes. The product was distributed elsewhere in Europe, so it’s a high-yield IPC alert for trusts using similar devices. Elsewhere, WHO’s DON620 (10 Oct) on Irkutsk finds no evidence of ongoing transmission, though the cause of the index death is still unidentified. Ebola totals are unchanged at 8,728 / 4,205, and the UK flu/COVID week 41 report is still the latest, with week 42 due on 15 Oct.
10New journal items, from 5 journals1New on Microregistrar Moodle1/9Watched pages with something new23Weekly X insights posts, in 4 categories37Source links in this issue6Coverage gaps we could not closeCounted from today’s digest. New journal items are the ones listed as new in the Journals tab (2 J Infect, 2 CMI, 3 Eurosurveillance, 1 IJID, 2 ASHE); papers we covered on 9–10 Oct aren’t counted again. Weekly X insights are 4 case challenges, 6 teaching posts, 6 paper reviews and 7 organisation posts. Links are unique content links across the issue, not counting our two website links. Gaps come from the Coverage gaps list. Today’s digest has no sources checklist, so there’s no checks card.
Also today
The other headlines from today’s issue. Each one links through to the full summary. In the UK it’s a quiet Sunday: no new UKHSA guidance, Outbreaks under monitoring is still at week 40, and Rotherham Legionnaires’, Newcastle hepatitis A, PRISM and England measles are unchanged.
Microregistrar Moodle · 1 newNew on Microregistrar Moodle
Amoebic liver abscess (10 Oct 2026), a clinical teaching item that pairs with Friday’s pyogenic liver abscess.
Watch · Irkutsk · WHO DON620WHO: no evidence of ongoing transmission
WHO’s formal DON (10 Oct) relays Russia’s report of no recent plague and no biosecurity incident; contacts tested negative for high-threat pathogens and observation has finished. No travel or trade restrictions.
Still not confirmed: the cause of the index death is unidentified, and WHO says lab-associated exposure can’t be fully excluded. Social “plague deaths” claims remain unverified and contradicted.
Ebola · unchangedDRC still at 8,728 cases, 4,205 deaths
Data to 6 Oct, CFR 48.2%, on ECDC’s page last updated 8 Oct 16:25. No newer WHO DON after DON619 for Ebola, and the Kenya import framing is unchanged.
UKHSA · flu/COVID · unchangedStill the week 41 report
Hospital PCR positivity: flu 6.5%, COVID-19 9.1%; RSV at baseline. The week 42 report (data to 11 Oct) is announced for 15 Oct.
Journal of Infection · watchedYanggou tick virus and antifungal prophylaxis in adult ALL
The first human series of Yanggou tick virus as a cause of fever of unknown origin, and an adult ALL cohort where invasive fungal infection was rare without routine prophylaxis.
Sunday · week in reviewThe week at a glance
Ebola climbed then plateaued, Kenya’s first import, Irkutsk de-escalated to DON620, UK winter viruses got going, and TB contact-tracing and prison STI guidance landed.
Sunday · Weekly X insights23 posts worth a look
Case challenges, teaching material, paper reviews and organisation news from the past seven days.
What we could not confirm
The digest doesn’t name the saline flush product or say whether it reached the UK, so please check the Eurosurveillance paper before acting. On Irkutsk, the index diagnosis is still unknown. We couldn’t read full CDC MMWR, HAN or newsroom pages, Lancet ID Online First was blocked, and CID/JAC/JAC-AMR feeds were thin, so we may have missed some Online First papers. Some organisation accounts on X were silent or couldn’t be found, and journal takeaways are abstract-level only.
Week in review
Our look back over Mon 5 – Sat 10 Oct 2026 for this Sunday Weekly Edition (11 Oct 2026), drawn from our daily issues for 5–10 Oct, plus today’s DON620 and Moodle check.
Headline movements
Story Start of week (5–6 Oct) End of week (9–11 Oct) Movement Ebola Bundibugyo, DRC 8,224 / 3,982 (ECDC to 29 Sep) → 8,442 / 4,080 (to 2 Oct) 8,728 / 4,205 (WHO DON619 / ECDC to 6 Oct; CFR 48.2%) Rose, then unchanged Saturday–Sunday Kenya BVD import Not yet First confirmed import (announced 6–7 Oct); died 5 Oct; we use 28 contacts New mid-week Irkutsk “plague” signal Lab technician’s death; pneumonia of unknown etiology; plague not confirmed CDTR week 41 and WHO DON620 (10 Oct): no recent plague; contact work completed; etiology still unknown Official line de-escalating; new formal WHO DON UK flu (hospital PCR) Still week 39 Week 41: 6.5% (was 5.0%) New on Thursday; unchanged since UK COVID-19 (hospital PCR) Week 39 Week 41: 9.1% (was 7.9%) New on Thursday; unchanged since Measles, England — 1,003 (1 Jan–14 Sep); next update 15 Oct First flagged 7 Oct; unchanged RCPath exams Quiet Quiet Unchanged all week The week’s stories
Ebola · Bundibugyo Climbed, then plateaued
DRC counts climbed through the week (~8.2k/4.0k → 8,728/4,205 by DON619), then plateaued over Saturday and Sunday. Kenya became the fourth country with a confirmed case (a fatal import via Kampala–Nairobi flight JM8523). The Netherlands HCW medevac is unchanged. ECDC rates the risk very low for people living in the EU/EEA and low for EU/EEA residents travelling to affected areas.
Watch · Irkutsk From noise to a WHO DON
Early-week noise gave way to Russian denials of plague and completed contact work, then ECDC’s CDTR week 41, then WHO DON620 (dated 10 Oct).
Not confirmed: plague was never confirmed in the official record, and the index diagnosis is still missing.
UK · respiratory season Winter viruses off the blocks
The first winter weekly package (week 41, data week 40) showed flu and COVID-19 both up from week 39 but still low or at baseline. September flu was already higher than the same period in the previous four winters. Week 42 is due on 15 Oct.
ECDC · arboviruses CDTR week 41, as at 7 Oct
West Nile 1,855 locally acquired cases, 208 areas, 18 countries; chikungunya France 146, Italy 1; dengue Italy 68, France 6; CCHF Spain 4 (none new that week); and Germany’s first symptomatic autochthonous Sindbis infection.
Guidance that mattered this week Five days, five items
- 6 Oct: UKHSA TB contact tracing guidance for HPTs (supersedes the public-health parts of NICE NG33).
- 7 Oct: STI testing in prisons: universal opt-out syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea testing at reception.
- 8 Oct: flu/COVID week 41, Outbreaks under monitoring week 40 and the mpox overview.
- 9 Oct: MenB parental leaflet revision (schedule wording only); ECDC CDTR week 41.
- 10 Oct: WHO DON620 (Irkutsk).
Quiet all week: UK SMI news, Green Book chapters, NICE infection guidance, EUCAST and RCPath exams.
Microregistrar Moodle · the week Moodle across the week
- 4 Oct: Hepatitis management guideline 2026 BASHH
- 5 Oct: Interactive HYN RSV
- 6 Oct: UK SMI V26 EBV, and the FRCPath prep timeline
- 7 Oct: Serology graphs, and Shingles vaccine updated
- 9 Oct: Pyogenic liver abscess
- 10 Oct: Amoebic liver abscess (today)
Journals · the week Standout papers (skim)
Lancet ID Pfkelch13 A724E in Zambia; Lancet Microbe MDR C. tropicalis DST849; CMI encephalitis guidelines; JAC MSSA penicillin G / cefazolin inoculum effect; ARIC iGAS outpatient outbreaks and IVOS AMS; EID SSPE Philippines; J Infect Yanggou tick virus and adult ALL antifungal prophylaxis (today); Eurosurveillance Ralstonia saline-flush outbreak (today).
Take-homes for Monday Five one-liners
- Bundibugyo climbed then plateaued at 8,728/4,205; Kenya remains a VHF risk-assessment country into late October.
- Irkutsk now has a WHO DON: no plague, contacts cleared, etiology unknown.
- UK winter viruses are moving: flu and COVID-19 are up but still low; week 42 is due on 15 Oct, and the England measles update is also due on 15 Oct.
- File: TB contact tracing and prison STI opt-out testing; the MenB leaflet change is for parents only.
- Exams: nothing new from RCPath; Moodle added a liver-abscess pair (pyogenic, then amoebic) plus the earlier BASHH, RSV, EBV, serology, shingles and timeline items.
Microregistrar Moodle update
New on Microregistrar Moodle since our last issue: one item. The whole week’s additions are on the Week in review tab.
New · 10 Oct 2026 Amoebic liver abscess
A clinical teaching item. There’s no further description on the sheet.
The full list is in the Microregistrar moodlecloud sheet ›
Watched pages
We check nine pages every morning for anything new, compared with what we saw last time (checked 11 Oct 2026 08:08 BST; all 9 were reachable). One has something new: the Journal of Infection. The other eight were quiet, including RCPath exams.
Health Protection Report (UKHSA)
No changeNo new items (still volume 20 issue 9, 24 Sep).
UK SMI News (RCPath)
No changeNo new items.
RCPath Examinations
No changeNo new exam news. None of the watched subpages has changed, and there are no new document links. We watch the Medical Microbiology, Infection, Virology, FRCPath Part 1 & 2 and CICE pages.
Green Book
No changeNo new or updated chapters.
UKHSA organisation page (GOV.UK)
No changeNo new infection-relevant items overnight.
NICE published guidance
No changeNo new infection/antimicrobial items.
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
No changeNo new items in its feed.
Journal of Infection
NEW
- 10 Oct: Human febrile illness associated with Yanggou tick virus: Clinical characteristics and epidemiological links to rodents. Summarised in the Journals tab. Full text › · doi:10.1016/j.jinf.2026.106875 ›
- 10 Oct: Infectious complications of treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in adults: Is antifungal prophylaxis necessary? A single-center retrospective cohort study. Summarised in the Journals tab. Full text › · doi:10.1016/j.jinf.2026.106874 ›
Journal of Hospital Infection
No new scienceNew links appeared in its feed for Waterless versus soap-and-water perineal hygiene… and Accidental or an emergency? Blood culture contamination…, but both were in our 10 Oct issue under their journal DOIs, so they aren’t counted as new.
Agencies & guidance
WHO’s DON620 on Irkutsk is the only new agency item today. UKHSA and ECDC figures are unchanged, and CDC was only partly reachable.
Guidance changes
Surveillance · not guidelines No new clinical guidance today
- WHO DON620 (10 Oct): new, but it’s epidemic intelligence and IHR verification, not a clinical guideline; see the WHO card below.
- No new UK SMI, Green Book chapter, NICE infection guidance or EUCAST change detected on our watched pages.
- The UK flu/COVID week 41 surveillance report is still the latest operational winter bulletin (unchanged); week 42 is due on 15 Oct.
WHO
WHO · 2026-DON620 · new Pneumonia of undetermined etiology — Russian Federation (10 Oct)
The case: an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute was admitted on 29 Sep with severe pneumonia and died on 2 Oct. Media had raised pneumonic plague or laboratory exposure.
What Russia told WHO: no recent plague in Irkutsk Oblast, and no laboratory biosafety or biosecurity incident (two independent investigations). Contacts were under medical observation with daily testing for seven days; all stayed asymptomatic and tested negative for high-threat pathogens, and observation was discontinued as of 9 Oct. More than 5,500 tests were run; among contacts, only opportunistic or respiratory findings were reported (e.g. COVID-19, rhinovirus, Haemophilus spp.), not high-threat pathogens. There has been no further severe pneumonia linked to the case. The death is classified as pneumonia of undetermined etiology; the patient was vaccinated against the high-threat pathogens handled at work and hadn’t travelled outside Irkutsk Oblast in the two weeks before onset.
WHO’s assessment: no evidence of ongoing transmission, but confidence is limited because the causative agent is still unidentified; WHO can’t independently judge whether the length of contact monitoring was adequate for every plausible cause, and lab-associated exposure cannot be fully excluded. No travel or trade restrictions. WHO has offered biosafety and biosecurity support.
Not confirmed: there’s still no etiological diagnosis in the deceased. Social posts about “plague deaths” remain unverified and contradict the official record.
WHO: 2026-DON620, Pneumonia of undetermined etiology — Russian Federation ›
WHO · Ebola · unchanged No newer Ebola DON
No DON newer than 2026-DON619 (8 Oct) found this morning, and no DON621 either.
UKHSA / England
UKHSA · flu/COVID-19 · unchanged Still the week 41 report (8 Oct, data week 40)
The key figures stand: flu hospital PCR positivity 6.5%, hospitalisation rate 1.97/100,000; COVID-19 hospital PCR positivity 9.1%, admissions 2.04/100,000; RSV at baseline. The week 42 report is announced for 15 Oct 2026 (data up to 11 Oct) and isn’t out yet.
UKHSA · Outbreaks under monitoring Still at week 40
The latest chapter is still week 40 (week ending 4 Oct). The collection was last updated on 9 Oct, with a title change from “Suspected plague (pneumonic)” to “Pneumonia of undetermined aetiology”. There’s no week 41 document yet.
UKHSA · unchanged Everything else
HPR is still 20(9). A MenB young-adults coverage report (first published 1 Oct, labelled HPR 20(10)) isn’t new today. Rotherham Legionnaires’, Newcastle hepatitis A, PRISM and measles in England (1,003 to 14 Sep; next due 15 Oct) have no new figures.
ECDC
ECDC · Ebola page · unchanged 8,728 confirmed, 4,205 deaths (data to 6 Oct)
1,066 hospitalised in isolation and 2,269 recoveries; last updated 8 Oct 16:25. The Kenya import and the EU risk framing are restated: very low for people living in the EU/EEA and low for EU/EEA residents travelling to affected areas. There’s no newer CDTR after week 41 (published 9 Oct).
The EU arbovirus, Salmonella Strathcona and respiratory (week 38) lines from CDTR week 41 are unchanged overnight; see the Week in review.
Global — Ebola (Bundibugyo)
WHO · ECDC · unchanged DRC: 8,728 cases, 4,205 deaths
Unchanged since yesterday: we use WHO DON619 / ECDC 8,728 / 4,205 (to 6 Oct). Kenya’s first import and the Netherlands HCW medevac are as previously described.
For Kenya’s contacts, we’re using the figure of 28 (Outbreaks under monitoring, the Minister and ECDC) rather than the differing media counts.
Global — Irkutsk (follow-up)
Watch · Irkutsk · not confirmed DON620 crystallises the week’s de-escalation
Plague is not registered, contacts are cleared, and the etiology is still unknown. This matches ECDC’s CDTR week 41 wording. UK returning-case probability remains very low (Outbreaks under monitoring week 40).
Unverified: the cause of death is still not known, so please don’t treat this as either confirmed or excluded plague.
CDC / US
CDC · partly reachable MMWR, HAN and newsroom
Many CDC pages refused our access today, including the newsroom and HAN index. Searches surfaced MMWR Notes from the Field titles (e.g. Cladophialophora bantiana molecular detections), but we couldn’t read the full articles. No October 2026 HAN was found; the latest cited is still the rabies PEP advisory HAN-00533 (September 2026).
MMWR is title-level only today; treat it as partial.
CDC · EID early release Nothing newly dated 10–11 Oct
Titles dated 2 Oct and late September include measles pieces from Bangladesh, Japan and Jerusalem, and trachoma in Ecuador. SSPE in the Philippines was in earlier issues.
CDC · travel health notices No new notice dated 10–11 Oct (page reviewed 2 Oct)
- Level 4: Ebola Bundibugyo in Ituri and Nord-Kivu, DRC (4 Aug 2026): avoid all travel except humanitarian or emergency travel.
- Level 3: Ebola Bundibugyo in Haut-Uélé and Tshopo, DRC (4 Aug 2026).
- Level 2: Ebola Bundibugyo elsewhere in the DRC and Uganda (28 Aug); Global Polio (updated 23 Sep; the destination list includes the UK, among others); yellow fever in Colombia; chikungunya in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and French Guiana; Zika in Bali; malaria in Yemen and Mayotte; meningococcal disease in the DRC.
- Level 1: Global Dengue (updated 2 Oct); hepatitis A in Costa Rica and Canada; diphtheria; global measles; and others.
Journals
Ten new items from five journals, including two from our watched Journal of Infection page. Takeaways are abstract-level only.
Eurosurveillance — new
Eurosurveillance · IPC alert Nosocomial Ralstonia mannitolilytica outbreak linked to prefilled saline flush syringes, Germany, Mar–Sep 2026
Takeaway: 16 cgMLST-linked bloodstream infection cases across 7 hospitals. The product was distributed elsewhere in Europe, so it’s a high-yield IPC alert for trusts using similar devices.
The digest doesn’t name the product or say whether it reached the UK; please check the paper before acting.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2026.31.40.2600819
Eurosurveillance · GI outbreak Multi-country Salmonella Blockley outbreak linked to tomatoes (2024)
Takeaway: 216 ST52 cases (UK 129); the UK epidemiology linked tomatoes and Retailer A. Good teaching value for GI and ID. Published in this week’s issue.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2026.31.40.2500862
Eurosurveillance · candidaemia Candidaemia age composition, Iceland, 2012–2023
Takeaway: a rising age-standardised rate; C. albicans 41%, N. glabratus 27%.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2026.31.40.2600120
Journal of Infection — new on our watched page
J Infect · arbovirus · watched Human febrile illness associated with Yanggou tick virus: Clinical characteristics and epidemiological links to rodents
The first human series (n=30) of Yanggou tick virus (a segmented jingmenvirus) as a cause of fever of unknown origin in north-east China. Fever was universal, about ⅓ were co-diagnosed with HFRS, and rodent contact was reported more often than tick bite. Virus was found in D. nuttalli and I. persulcatus ticks and in A. agrarius, with oral and faecal shedding.
Takeaway: consider jingmenviruses in travel and FUO differentials for people from endemic regions.
J Infect · haematology · watched Infectious complications of treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in adults: Is antifungal prophylaxis necessary? A single-center retrospective cohort study
A DFCI/BWH retrospective cohort (n=295, 2010–2023) without routine antifungal prophylaxis. Bacterial infections dominated (39.7%); proven or probable IFI was only 3.1% in induction and 1.8% in consolidation, and IFI-related ICU admission or death was rare (0.7%).
Takeaway: supports risk-adapted rather than universal antifungal prophylaxis in adult ALL, in line with ECIL caution on mould-active triazoles with vincristine.
Clinical Microbiology and Infection (CMI) — new
CMI · aspergillosis Non-invasive diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis in haematological malignancy
Takeaway: urine TafC/Cr or serum GM were each about 51% sensitive, with high specificity in the available controls. Adding serum PTX3 raised detection to about 84%, at the cost of specificity (about 58%). A useful adjunct when BAL is delayed.
CMI · TBE · meta-analysis Host genetic susceptibility to TBE: systematic review and meta-analysis
Takeaway: no clinically useful associations for the widely studied candidate variants (including CCR5 Δ32, TLR3, IL10 and CD209).
IJID and ASHE — new
IJID · AMS · bloodstream infection Inadequate empirical therapy and unnecessary broad-spectrum use in community-onset BSI
Takeaway: in a Barcelona ED cohort (n=1,716), inadequate or no empirical therapy was 27%; MDR predicted inadequate therapy (aOR 7.4); and among broad-spectrum “adequate” recipients, 81% of regimens were judged unnecessary. The classic ED AMS tension.
ASHE · AmpC · bacteriuria Initial antibiotic selection and microbiological recurrence in low-risk AmpC Enterobacterales bacteriuria
Takeaway: preliminary support for AST-guided rather than reflex AmpC-stable therapy in Serratia, Morganella and Providencia UTI or bacteriuria.
ASHE · neonates · XDR XDR Acinetobacter baumannii colonisation in neonates, South Africa
Takeaway: 23.9% XDR A. baumannii colonisation; invasive disease in 25% of colonised neonates vs 0.8% if not colonised.
Already covered on 9–10 Oct
CMI ESCMID/EAN encephalitis guidelines; EID SSPE Philippines; J Hosp Infect waterless hygiene RCT, ED blood-culture contamination and RESIST ACINETO; JAC levofloxacin-prophylaxis comment; JAMA Network Open maternal influenza cohort; IJID ART outcomes; and others.
Weekly X insights
The best of the past seven days on X (4–11 Oct 2026): 23 posts in four groups. There’s no separate daily X scan on Sundays, so this tab replaces the usual On X tab.
Case challenges · 4
@Gloria_SuraMDDuodenal biopsy: larvae of what organism?
(8 Oct 2026, 22:04 BST) An image quiz from #PathTwitter / #IDTwitter.
@Gloria_SuraMDLung mycetoma: what fungus?
(5 Oct 2026, 22:03 BST) Spherules with endospores plus arthroconidia.
@NEJMImages in Clinical Medicine: a syphilitic chancre
(10 Oct 2026, 15:00 BST) A teaching case of nipple ulceration and crusting.
@Saroja_DeviGCharcot–Leyden crystals from ABPA
(8 Oct 2026, 23:57 BST) A #PulmPath allergy/ID teaching image.
Teaching material · 6
@ccf_idfellowsPulmonary TB after allo-HSCT
(6 Oct 2026, 23:35 BST) Cleveland Clinic ID fellows: pulmonary TB after allogeneic HSCT, then spine surgery with a CSF leak and meningism.
@ESCMIDOnline course: tropical infections, HIV and TB
(5 Oct 2026, 11:20 BST) High-burden tropical infections, HIV and TB.
@ESCMIDOnline course: anaerobes
(4 Oct 2026, 14:15 BST) Emerging AMR, virulence and clinical role.
@ESCMIDCopenhagen course: plasmid bioinformatics
(10 Oct 2026, 09:20 BST) An onsite course on plasmid-focused bioinformatics for AMR and outbreak investigation.
@RCPathFree Educational Update 2026 webinar (6 Nov)
(7 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST) AI in pathology training, exams and workforce (up to 2 CPD).
@MOICNIAll-Island AMS Conference, Dublin
(8 Oct 2026, 14:49 BST) With Andrew Seaton’s keynote on stewardship.
Paper reviews · 6
@CMIJournalShorter antibiotic courses for children’s UTI
(5 Oct 2026, 05:17 BST) A CMI meta-analysis of shorter-course (2–5 d) vs ≥7 d antibiotics for children with uncomplicated UTI.
@IDSAInfoLet’s Talk ID: molnupiravir mutagenesis
(10 Oct 2026, 01:38 BST) Concerns raised in a recent paper.
@IDSAInfoOFID: visceral leishmaniasis in immunocompromised hosts
(7 Oct 2026, 01:41 BST) The value of molecular species identification.
@IDSAInfoMolecular syndromic panels
(5 Oct 2026, 03:27 BST) How they reshape ID diagnostics, and what the results don’t show.
@NEJMARISE FLUIDS Quick Take
(10 Oct 2026, 20:00 BST) Liberal IV fluids vs earlier vasopressors in early septic shock.
@tanvirahmanMDR A. baumannii draft genome
(6 Oct 2026, 14:11 BST) From a Bangladeshi dairy-farm environment; an author announcement.
Clinician journal-club and critique threads were thin this week, so these are mostly society and journal posts, plus one author announcement.
Organisation news · 7
@UKHSAFirst VirusWatch graphs of the season
(9 Oct 2026, 16:32 BST) Flu 6.5% (up from 5.0%); COVID-19 hospital PCR 9.1% (up from 7.9%); RSV at baseline.
@CDCgovMonitoring the Irkutsk reports
(6 Oct 2026, 19:03 BST) CDC said it was monitoring reports of suspected fatal pneumonic plague in Irkutsk and assessing as information emerged.
This came before WHO’s DON620, which reports no recent plague; the cause of death is still unidentified.
@ESCMID#ESCMIDGlobal2027 abstracts open
(7 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST) Abstract submissions are open for Stockholm.
@ESCMIDEpi Alert
(7 Oct 2026, 06:30 BST) Bundibugyo expanding in the DRC; chikungunya in France; Sindbis in Germany; WNV; the Irkutsk signal.
@RCPath#IPD2026 poster competition
(10 Oct 2026, 10:00 BST) Now open; the deadline is 27 Oct 2026 (GMT).
@IDSAInfoBartlett webinar (19 Oct)
(10 Oct 2026, 22:12 BST) RSV prevention products and monoclonal antibody implementation.
@RCPathAI regulation in healthcare
(8 Oct 2026, 11:45 BST) The College welcomes the UK Government’s response to the National Commission into AI regulation in healthcare.
Accounts we couldn’t cover
@ECDC_EU and @TheLancetInfDis had 0 original posts in the window (we don’t count reposts), and @BSACandJAC also had 0. We couldn’t reliably find the British Infection Association’s account, and a #MicroTwitter search returned 0. A broad “identify the pathogen” search was swamped by plague-news chatter, so we set it aside.
What we could not confirm
We want you to know exactly where today’s issue has limits, so here are the 6 sources we had trouble with and what went wrong.
Source Issue CDC MMWR, HAN and newsroom pages often refused our access; MMWR Early Release full text couldn’t be read today, only titles found by search. Lancet ID Online First Blocked for us; no clear new DOI beyond items already reported. CID / JAC / JAC-AMR Advance feeds thin or stale this morning, so we may have missed some Online First papers. UK flu/COVID week 42 and England measles Both due on 15 Oct; not expected today. Outbreaks under monitoring week 41 Not published yet. Weekly X Some organisation accounts were silent or couldn’t be found (see the Weekly X insights tab); the rest of the sweep worked. Sources
Today’s digest doesn’t include a sources checklist, so we can’t show ticked and open checks this time. These are the sources it draws on, as described in the issue.
- Watched pages (9 pages, all reachable, checked 11 Oct 08:08 BST)
- Microregistrar Moodle sheet (1 new item)
- WHO Disease Outbreak News (DON620 new; DON619 still the latest for Ebola)
- UKHSA GOV.UK: flu/COVID week 41 report, Outbreaks under monitoring collection, HPR
- ECDC Ebola outbreak page and CDTR week 41
- CDC: EID early release, travel health notices, and MMWR/HAN titles by search (partial)
- Journal sweep plus watched journal feeds
- Week in review: our daily issues for 5–10 Oct
- Weekly X insights (4–11 Oct)
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