Microregistrar Infection Newsletter · Saturday 10 October 2026
ECDC’s week 41 threats report: West Nile at 1,855 locally acquired cases in 18 countries.
ECDC’s Communicable Disease Threats Report for week 41 (3–9 Oct, published 9 Oct) is the first since week 40. As at 7 Oct it counts 1,855 locally acquired human West Nile cases across 208 affected areas in 18 countries. On Ebola, the DRC totals are unchanged at 8,728 / 4,205; ECDC rates the risk low for EU/EEA residents travelling to affected areas and very low for people living in the EU/EEA. On Irkutsk, Russian authorities report no recent plague and no high-threat pathogen in identified contacts, though ECDC says the information isn’t sufficient for a firm conclusion. The Salmonella Strathcona outbreak linked to Sicilian tomatoes is still not fully controlled.
Counted from today’s digest. New journal items are the ones listed as new in the Journals tab (1 CMI, 1 EID, 2 J Hosp Infect, 1 JAC, 1 JAMA Network Open, 1 JAMA, 1 IJID, 1 AAC); AAC papers we already listed yesterday aren’t counted again. Links are unique links across the issue. 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 Saturday: UKHSA revised its MenB parent leaflet for the childhood schedule changes, the week 41 flu/COVID report (8 Oct) is still the latest, and Outbreaks under monitoring is still at week 40. Rotherham Legionnaires’, Newcastle hepatitis A, PRISM and England measles are unchanged, and there’s no new WHO DON after DON619.
New on Microregistrar Moodle
Pyogenic liver abscess (9 Oct 2026), a clinical teaching item.
Adult infectious encephalitis guidelines
Joint European Academy of Neurology and ESCMID guidelines on diagnosing and managing infectious encephalitis in adults, high-yield for FRCPath and acute ID practice.
Title-level only; we haven’t extracted the recommendations.
DRC still at 8,728 cases, 4,205 deaths
No newer figures than DON619 (data to 6 Oct; CFR 48.2%). ECDC’s page was last updated 8 Oct 16:25, and there’s no new WHO DON.
Irkutsk: plague denied, cause still not shared
Russian authorities tell WHO there’s been no recent plague and contact testing found no high-threat pathogen. The cause of the index pneumonia still hasn’t been shared, and WHO is still asking for data.
Not confirmed either way: ECDC says the information isn’t sufficient for a firm conclusion. Social posts claiming “5 dead” are unverified and contradict the official lines.
Salmonella Strathcona: still not controlled
ST2559: >160 new EU/EEA cases in 2026 across 10 countries, ~670 confirmed in 2023–2025. Small/cherry tomatoes from Sicily are still the leading vehicle.
MenB parent leaflet revised
The “protecting your baby” leaflet has been updated for childhood immunisation schedule changes. It isn’t a new Green Book chapter or JCVI statement.
What we could not confirm
There’s no new WHO DON after DON619, and we haven’t independently checked DRC Ministry of Health figures beyond 6 Oct. On Irkutsk, the index diagnosis is still unknown and ECDC can’t reach a firm conclusion. We haven’t re-checked the CDC pages or EUCAST, journal takeaways are title- or abstract-level only, and figures shown only in CDTR charts weren’t read.
Microregistrar Moodle update
New on Microregistrar Moodle since our last issue: one item.
Pyogenic 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 10 Oct 2026 08:11 BST; all nine were reachable). Three have something new: UKHSA, JAC and J Hosp Infect. The other six 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)
NEW- 9 Oct 2026, 12:26 BST — MenB: protecting your baby against meningitis and septicaemia (revised parental leaflet; change note: “Added revised versions of the leaflet with childhood schedule changes”). See Guidance changes. MenB leaflet ›
- 9 Oct — Outbreaks under monitoring in 2026: the collection page’s date moved on, but the latest chapter is still week 40 (week ending 4 Oct); there’s no week 41 document yet. Outbreaks under monitoring in 2026 ›
NICE published guidance
No changeNo new infection/antimicrobial items.
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
NEW9 Oct: Comment on: Determinants of levofloxacin prophylaxis failure in high-risk haematology patients… Summarised in the Journals tab.
Journal of Infection
No changeNo new items in its feed.
Journal of Hospital Infection
NEW- 9 Oct: Waterless versus soap-and-water perineal hygiene in fully dependent hospitalized patients: a multicenter randomized trial. doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2026.09.032 ›
- 9 Oct: Accidental or an emergency? Blood culture contamination rates in the Emergency Department. doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2026.09.031 ›
The RESIST ACINETO lateral flow paper also reappeared under a different link; it was in our 9 Oct issue (DOI 10.1016/j.jhin.2026.09.028), so it isn’t counted as new.
Agencies & guidance
ECDC’s week 41 threats report is the main news. In the UK, UKHSA revised its MenB parent leaflet, and the Ebola figures are unchanged.
Guidance changes
MenB: protecting your baby against meningitis and septicaemia (9 Oct)
The quick-guide leaflet for parents on the meningococcal B vaccine and disease has been updated for childhood immunisation schedule changes; free print code 13864049EN001. The longer parent guidance leaflet is also signposted. This is not a new Green Book chapter or JCVI statement.
Other changes
- ECDC CDTR week 41 (9 Oct): an operational epidemic-intelligence bulletin, not a clinical guideline; see the ECDC card below.
- The UK flu/COVID week 41 surveillance report is still the latest winter bulletin (unchanged since yesterday).
- No UK SMI, Green Book chapter, NICE or EUCAST changes detected (EUCAST wasn’t separately re-checked).
ECDC
Communicable Disease Threats Report, week 41 (3–9 Oct), published 9 Oct
Russia / Irkutsk: Russian authorities report no recent plague in Irkutsk Oblast; preventive measures and contact observation/testing are completed, and no high-threat pathogen was detected in identified contacts. WHO is still requesting the pathogen diagnosis for the fatal 28-year-old Anti-Plague Institute technician and information on media reports of a second employee. ECDC says the information is not sufficient for a firm EU risk conclusion and is monitoring with WHO EURO. A media claim of a lab incident involving Y. pestis is not confirmed.
Ebola Bundibugyo: DRC 8,728 / 4,205 (data to 6 Oct), unchanged vs DON619. Kenya’s first confirmed import (announced 6 Oct); the Uganda outbreak ended on 25 Aug. The risk is low for EU/EEA residents travelling to affected areas and very low for people living in the EU/EEA.
Expert deployment: EUHTF/GOARN rotational support in the DRC, Uganda and the Africa CDC IMST continues (11 deployments as of 5 Oct in the Africa CDC PHASE II stream).
Arboviruses (as at 7 Oct): locally acquired chikungunya France 146, Italy 1; dengue Italy 68, France 6. West Nile: 1,855 locally acquired human cases, 208 affected areas in 18 countries, with 6 areas newly affected this week. CCHF: Spain 4 in 2026, with no new cases in the past week.
Salmonella Strathcona ST2559: >160 new EU/EEA cases reported in 2026 (10 countries); ~670 confirmed in 2023–2025, with the UK previously noted in the historical totals. Small/cherry tomatoes from Sicily are still the leading vehicle, and the source is not fully controlled.
Respiratory viruses (EU/EEA week 38): primary-care respiratory illness is mostly low/baseline but rising in most countries. SARS-CoV-2 positivity is flat in primary care and up in secondary care; influenza is at baseline (mostly A, mainly in people aged ≥65); RSV is low/inter-epidemic.
Measles (August monthly): 28 countries reported, with 143 cases in 10 countries and 0 measles deaths reported to ECDC in the prior 12 months. Case numbers were up on the previous month. ECDC’s 9 Oct epidemic-intelligence scan found no new or ongoing EU/EEA outbreaks, only sporadic cases and clusters.
Sindbis, Germany: the first reported autochthonous symptomatic Sindbis virus infection (south-west Germany, identified September 2026), which matches UKHSA’s Outbreaks under monitoring week 40.
Figures shown only in the report’s charts weren’t read.
ECDC: Communicable Disease Threats Report, 3–9 October, week 41 ›
UKHSA / England
Still the week 41 report (8 Oct)
No newer national flu/COVID bulletin this morning; the week 42 report isn’t due yet (it’s the weekend). Yesterday’s figures stand: flu hospital PCR positivity 6.5% (was 5.0%), hospitalisation rate 1.97/100,000; COVID-19 hospital PCR positivity 9.1% (was 7.9%), admissions 2.04/100,000; RSV at baseline. UKHSA’s X account (9 Oct) recirculated VirusWatch graphs and reminders to book free NHS flu, COVID-19 and RSV vaccines.
Still at week 40
The collection page was refreshed on 9 Oct, but week 40 is still the latest chapter (Bundibugyo/Kenya, Cambodia A(H5N1), the Irkutsk signal, German Sindbis). No new case counts beyond what week 40 and WHO/ECDC already carried.
Everything else
No updates beyond the 8 Oct wave to the Ebola/Marburg locations, the mpox overview, quarterly HCAI Q1 2026–27 or the syndromic packs. Rotherham Legionnaires’, Newcastle hepatitis A, PRISM wastewater and measles in England (1,003 to 14 Sep; next due 15 Oct) are unchanged, and HPR is still 20(9).
Global — Ebola (Bundibugyo)
DRC: 8,728 cases, 4,205 deaths, 2,269 recoveries
Unchanged since yesterday. WHO 2026-DON619 (8 Oct) is still the latest DON. CFR 48.2%; the Kenya import and the Netherlands HCW evacuation are as previously described. ECDC’s Ebola page still shows 8,728 / 4,205, last updated 8 Oct 16:25.
For Kenya’s contacts, we’re using the WHO/UKHSA/ECDC figure (28, from Outbreaks under monitoring and the Minister) rather than the differing media counts.
Global — Irkutsk (follow-up)
Official denials of plague, but the cause is still unknown
ECDC’s week 41 report carries the Russian authorities’ replies: no recent plague case, with contact observation and testing completed and no high-threat pathogen found (see the ECDC card). The index diagnosis is still unknown, and WHO is still requesting data. UK returning-case probability remains very low (Outbreaks under monitoring week 40). UK/EU framing has been reworded (“very low” / “insufficient for a firm conclusion”) but not escalated.
Unverified: social posts claiming “5 dead from Russian plague” are inconsistent with the Russian and ECDC wording, so please don’t use social tallies.
WHO
No new DON
No new DON after 2026-DON619.
CDC / US
Not re-checked this weekend
We haven’t re-verified the CDC pages today; they often refuse our access.
Journals
We swept the major ID and general journals for items created around 8–10 Oct, plus new items on our watched journal pages: 9 new items from 8 journals. Takeaways are title- or abstract-level only.
Clinical Microbiology and Infection (CMI) — new guideline
Diagnosis and management of infectious encephalitis in adults: Guidelines from the European Academy of Neurology and European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Takeaway: a joint EAN/ESCMID adult infectious encephalitis guideline, high-yield for FRCPath and acute ID practice (work-up, empiric therapy, when to escalate).
We haven’t extracted the full recommendations; no abstract was available.
Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) — new
Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis after Measles Outbreaks, the Philippines, 2007–2022
Takeaway: SSPE burden after measles outbreaks reinforces measles elimination and MMR catch-up messaging, and pairs with CDTR’s quiet EU August measles picture.
Title-level only.
On our watched journal pages — J Hosp Infect and JAC
Accidental or an emergency? Blood culture contamination rates in the Emergency Department
Takeaway: ED blood-culture contamination is a classic AMS/IPC quality metric, so expect local audit comparisons.
Title-level only.
Waterless versus soap-and-water perineal hygiene in fully dependent hospitalized patients: a multicenter randomized trial
Takeaway: a practical IPC RCT on perineal care in dependent inpatients.
Title-level only; outcomes not retrieved.
Comment on: Determinants of levofloxacin prophylaxis failure in high-risk haematology patients…
Takeaway: correspondence on fluoroquinolone prophylaxis failure (colonisation plus PK/PD), relevant to haemato-oncology AMS. We haven’t re-summarised the primary study.
Title-level only.
JAMA Network Open and JAMA — new
Maternal Influenza Infection During Pregnancy and Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Offspring
A binational cohort (Korean discovery cohort, Japanese replication) linking maternal influenza in pregnancy to offspring neuropsychiatric diagnoses.
Takeaway: methodologically careful, but clinical counselling should stay within the established benefits of antenatal flu vaccination rather than over-interpreting mechanism from the abstract alone.
Population Living With HIV Projected to Age in Coming Years
Takeaway: a demographic note on ageing populations of people living with HIV, relevant to service planning. Not a primary research paper.
IJID and AAC — new
Age-based outcomes of antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV in current follow-up: a comparative retrospective cohort study, Ganzhou, China, 2001–2021
Takeaway: long-horizon ART outcome differences by age at follow-up; a local Chinese cohort, so external validity to UK practice is limited.
Title-level only.
Emodepside combination characterisation
Indexed in the window; title-level only, and the digest gives the DOI without a link: 10.1128/aac.00825-26.
AAC — links for titles we listed yesterday
Development and validation of a cefepime population pharmacokinetic model to guide treatment…
Bedside dosing model interest for critically ill and special populations.
Population pharmacokinetics modeling of albendazole and albendazole sulfoxide
Open-label Phase 1 DDI study: ulonivirine and islatravir
Investigational HIV agents.
Modeling cabamiquine–pyronaridine chemoprevention against malaria
These four AAC papers were in yesterday’s issue as title-only items, so they’re not counted as new today. The C. glabrata echinocandin heteroresistance paper (10.1128/aac.00549-26) also reappeared and was summarised yesterday.
Already covered yesterday
Lancet ID antifungal susceptibility commentary; IJID Salmonella Agona, Bundibugyo growth and melioidosis CAP score; CMI primary-care AMS cluster RCT; ICHE multiplex panels, wastewater AMR scoping review, antibiotic tier intensity and LTC syndromic surveillance; JHI RESIST ACINETO LFA.
On X
A light scan of official accounts, plus one general pass.
Official accounts
VirusWatch graphs and vaccine reminder
(9 Oct) Flu positivity 6.5% (from 5.0%), COVID-19 hospital PCR 9.1% (from 7.9%), RSV baseline, and a reminder to book free NHS flu, COVID-19 and RSV vaccines.
DRC figures and Kenya import
(8 Oct) DRC Bundibugyo 8,728 / 4,205 as of 6 Oct; the Kenya import died on 5 Oct. Matches DON619.
Rumour control
Irkutsk: posts claiming “5 dead from Russian plague” are circulating. Official ECDC and Russian lines contradict any confirmed plague, so please don’t use social tallies.
What we could not confirm
We want you to know exactly where today’s issue has limits, so here are the 7 sources we had trouble with and what went wrong.
| Source | Issue |
|---|---|
| CDC | MMWR, HAN and outbreak pages not re-checked (they often refuse our access). |
| WHO / DRC Ministry of Health | No new DON after DON619; we haven’t independently checked DRC sitrep figures beyond 6 Oct. |
| UK flu/COVID week 42 | Not yet due (weekend). |
| England measles | The national update is still expected on 15 Oct. |
| Journal full text | Mostly paywalled or blocked; takeaways are abstract/title-level only. |
| EUCAST | Breakpoint pages not re-checked today. |
| ECDC CDTR charts | We read the report’s text, but figures shown only in its charts weren’t read. |
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 10 Oct 08:11 BST)
- Microregistrar Moodle sheet (1 new item)
- UKHSA GOV.UK: MenB leaflet, Outbreaks under monitoring collection, flu/COVID week 41 report
- ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report week 41 and the Ebola outbreak page
- WHO DON index (DON619 still the latest)
- Journal sweep (created ~8–10 Oct) plus watched journal feeds
- X light scan (official accounts plus one general pass)
- Not re-checked: CDC pages; EUCAST