Disease Detectives

What's going on in Russia? What is Pneumonic Plague? Why are people concerned about a lab leak?

Join Dr Foster-Roe in a special episode for a summary of what we know so far and some context and history that might help you understand why so many people are interested in this case.

Music as always by the brilliant Khabs - check out more of his amazing work here

Timestamps:

1:22 — Introduction to the Situation in Russia

1:52 — Understanding Pneumonia and Plague

4:51 — Understanding Lab Safety and Risks

5:54 — Insights from the Response

9:22 — How to Communicate Risk

10:06 — Bioterrorism and Historical Context of Plague

13:10 — Sources and upcoming episodes

References:

1. Nelson CA. Antimicrobial Treatment and Prophylaxis of Plague: Recommendations for Naturally Acquired Infections and Bioterrorism Response. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2021;70. doi:10.15585/mmwr.rr7003a1

2. CDC. Plague [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2026 Oct 12]. Clinical Care of Plague. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/plague/hcp/clinical-care/index.html

3. ECDC. ECDC closely monitoring situation following case of pneumonia of unknown origin in Russia [Internet]. 2026 [cited 2026 Oct 12]. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/ecdc-closely-monitoring-situation-following-case-pneumonia-unknown-origin-russia

4. Dalton DC. How to work in low-trust environments with integrity and compassion [Internet]. [cited 2026 Oct 12]. Available from: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/rev6ysqv86

5. Measures Taken. Watch 001 [Internet]. 2026 [cited 2026 Oct 12]. Irkutsk / Shelekhov plague incident. Available from: https://measurestaken.com/watches/001/

6. Blacksell SD, Dhawan S, Kusumoto M, Le KK, Summermatter K, O’Keefe J, et al. Laboratory-acquired infections and pathogen escapes worldwide between 2000 and 2021: a scoping review. The Lancet Microbe. 2024 Feb 1;5(2):e194–202. doi:10.1016/S2666-5247(23)00319-1 PubMed PMID: 38101440.

7. EuCDC. Plague [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2026 Oct 12]. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/plague

8. WHO. Plague [Internet]. [cited 2026 Oct 12]. Available from: https://www.who.int/health-topics/plague

9. Beacon. RFI and follow-up: Russia reports investigation in contacts complete, as international calls grow for transparency on cause of death of an anti-plague institute scientist [Internet]. [cited 2026 Oct 12]. Available from: https://beaconbio.org/en/report/?search=Russia&reportid=c12f1a37-3f96-4d3c-85e4-28b10da77701&filtersOpen=false

10. Staff AJ. Al Jazeera [Internet]. [cited 2026 Oct 12]. Russia dismisses reports of second plague case, WHO urges formal response. Available from: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/8/russia-dismisses-reports-of-second-plague-case-as-false-information

11. Meselson M, Guillemin J, Hugh-Jones M, Langmuir A, Popova I, Shelokov A, et al. The Sverdlovsk Anthrax Outbreak of 1979. Science. 1994 Nov 18;266(5188):1202–8. doi:10.1126/science.7973702

12. Cleveland Clinic. What Is Pneumonia? [Internet]. [cited 2026 Oct 12]. Available from: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4471-pneumonia

EIS 75th anniversary special

This week Dr. Merryn Foster-Roe discusses the Epidemiology Intelligence Service (EIS) to celebrate the 75th anniversary and some hopeful news since it's defunding in 2025. public health.

This episode discusses some ongoing investigations by the US CDC unpicking the methods used to try and solve each outbreak. From floods to raw milk cheese or pet turtles to frozen clams - how do disease detectives crack each case?

Welcome back to episode 7 of the SitRep

Join Dr. Merryn Foster-Roe for updates on the latest international epidemiology and infectious disease news. This episode starts with some updates from the Frankfurt Malaria outbreak, Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome in Thailand and DRC's Ebola outbreak including an attack on a politician. There are some new outbreaks to discuss, including a cluster of botulism (don't use black market Botox!), the biggest Anthrax outbreak we've covered yet and another outbreak of gastro linked to school meals. The rest of the episode focuses on mosquito borne disease, we discuss outbreaks and epidemics of West Nile Virus, Dengue (or 'break bone fever'), Japanese Encephalitis Virus and Chikungunya.

Music as always by the brilliant Khabs - check out more of his amazing work here

Welcome back to episode 6 of the SitRep

Join Dr. Merryn Foster-Roe for updates on the latest epidemiology and infectious disease news from around the world. This episode discusses Malaria in Mumbai and Frankfurt, Dengue in Florida and a home made chemical weapon scare in Michigan. Merryn provides updates on the world's largest ongoing measles outbreak in Bangladesh, a new haemorrhagic fever virus discovered in China, outbreaks of gastro linked to Indonesia's national free school meal initiative, Hepatitis C linked to a health care clinic in Taiwan, H5N1 Avian Influenza updates from Australia, Cyclospora in the US and the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the DRC.

Welcome back to episode 5 of the SitRep

Join Dr. Merryn Foster-Roe for updates on the latest epidemiology and infectious disease news from around the world. This episode covers a number of active gastro outbreak investigations in Türkiye, the UK, Vietnam and an update on Cyclospora in the US. Merryn discusses some common investigation techniques and some challenges in solving the cause of these outbreaks. This episode also brings you news on Rabies in a petting zoo, Anthrax events internationally and updates on H5N1 in Australia which is bracing for mass death events in wildlife.

Music by the brilliant Khabs - check out more of his amazing work here

Welcome back to episode four of the SitRep

Join Dr. Merryn Foster-Roe for updates on the latest epidemiology and infectious disease news from around the world. This episode covers leptospirosis in the Dominican Republic, Chandipura virus in India, measles at a Swedish folk festival, how Ebola is also impacting malaria in the DRC, a bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) case in Scotland, and zoonotic influenza events in China, the US, and Australia.

Welcome back to episode three of the SitRep

Today Dr Merryn Foster-Roe recaps news surrounding the recent US executive order calling for fewer childhood vaccines and recommendation to separate the MMR shot. While Dr Foster-Roe refrains from directly commenting on politics, it is acknowledged that public health is inherently political as policies and governments hold immense power over the public health outcomes for the people they are sworn to serve.