BlueDot

That time of year is approaching: fevers, coughing, and sniffling will be making their way through our workplaces. 🤧 For OHS and ERM teams, influenza-like illness (ILI) means absenteeism, lost productivity, and pressure on continuity plans. What should teams be expecting for this season? How severe was the southern hemisphere respiratory disease season, and what flu strains were circulating? Why is that important to my operations? What about COVID19? What therapeutics are available for employee health protection? Join BlueDot's Epidemiology team, Andrea Thomas, Anindita Marwah, and Josephine De Leon, on Thursday, October 8 at 1 p.m. ET for a data-driven look at what the Southern Hemisphere's respiratory season and early Northern Hemisphere signals may mean for the months ahead. You'll gain insights into why these trends matter, so you can time prevention measures, update site policies, and plan staffing and production. Save your spot: https://lnkd.in/gKJWTncX #FluSeason #WorkplaceWellness #OccupationalHealth #EnterpriseRiskManagement #BusinessContinuity

What's been on BlueDot's radar this week? Here are the top three disease events that caught our eye ! 1️⃣ - Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo As of 22 September 2026, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has reported 7,820 confirmed Ebola cases and 3,779 confirmed deaths, with 63 health zones across seven provinces affected. WHO describes the outbreak as uncontrolled and increasingly geographically dispersed, rating the risk of further spread within DRC as very high and the risk to neighbouring countries as high. Early signs of declining weekly case counts are offset by rising positivity rates in the epicentre (Ituri), falling contact tracing coverage to 78.3%, and a new affected zone in Dungu bordering South Sudan. On top of that, a confirmed case of mpox has been reported, leading to suspected undetected transmission chains. 2️⃣- Dengue in the United States By 19 September 2026, Florida reported 190 locally acquired dengue cases across six counties, a nearly five-fold increase from 39 cases at the end of August. Florida confirmed its first dengue death of 2026, an 80-year-old woman from Tampa who died on 4 September 2026. The 2026 total is approaching Florida's recent high of 199 locally acquired cases recorded in 2023 and far exceeds the 62 cases reported throughout 2025. Locally acquired dengue is increasing across multiple Florida counties, indicating sustained mosquito-borne transmission in a setting where dengue is not endemic. 3️⃣- West Nile virus in Europe Since the beginning of the 2026 transmission season, and as at 23 September, 186 areas affected by West Nile virus (WNV) have been identified in 16 countries across Europe. Several countries are experiencing increases in WNV activity, with some regions experiencing activity for the first time this year. Get these alerts delivered straight to your inbox, with insights from our subject-matter experts! Contact us to learn how.

✈️ ONE DAY until the Aviation Health Conference 26 starts! We are in Istanbul, Turkey talking about advances in AI and global disease surveillance. On day two, Dr. Kamran Khan will be participating in a discussion surrounding this topic. Don't be afraid to come by and say hello, we are excited to chat with you! Special thanks to QUAYNOTE COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED and the  International Airlines Medical Association (IAMA) for hosting this exciting event! #DiseaseSurveillance #AviationHealth #AIforGlobalHealth

See you in Istanbul, Turkey on Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th September 2026 for the Aviation Health Conference 26, hosted by QUAYNOTE COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED! Dr. Kamran Khan, and Jennifer Miniota will be travelling to Istanbul to discuss the use of AI in Global Disease Surveillance and intelligence systems. Make sure to stop by and say hi! Catch our Session on Day 2! Register here: https://lnkd.in/g3PQewiw

This past week, BlueDotters came together for our annual BlueCon; three days of connecting, sharing ideas, and innovating in person! 🌍 Between brainstorming sessions, planning for the future, and (some very competitive) team challenges, the time flew by. We handed out award titles like "The Drunken Astronaut", and "BlueDot should actually be a food truck" for most innovative and creative ideas 🚀🥂, shared some great meals together, and did plenty of blue-sky thinking about how we want to impact our customers, and the field of infectious disease surveillance as a whole. A huge thank you to our coworking space hosts, to O&B Canteen for a fantastic dinner, and to every BlueDotter who showed up and brought the energy. See you next year! 🎉 #BlueDot #Retreat

🍂 As we head into the fall respiratory illness season in the northern hemisphere, understanding what’s happening now can help teams prepare for potential impacts on their workforce and operations. Join BlueDot’s Andrea Thomas, Anindita Marwah, and Josephine De Leon on Thursday, October 8 at 1:00 PM ET for a look at what the Southern Hemisphere’s influenza and RSV season can tell us about the months ahead, along with the latest updates on COVID-19 and therapeutics. Topics will include:  🌎 A recap of the Southern Hemisphere's influenza and RSV season  📈 Early signals of influenza activity emerging in the Northern Hemisphere  🦠 A global COVID-19 update, including circulating variants  💉 An overview of therapeutics available this season    Register Here: https://lnkd.in/gKJWTncX See you there!

What's been on BlueDot's radar this week? Here are the top three disease events that caught our eye ! 1️⃣ Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Cases of ebola continue to rise within the DRC, with Ituri Province remaining as the epicentre with nearly 78% of cases. North Kivu is also driving a growing share of new infections and is experiencing severe treatment-centre strain (143.6% bed occupancy). Community deaths have climbed to roughly 69% of all fatalities, and deaths among children under five rose nearly 15% in the latest comparison period. Transmission has not yet stabilized. While some areas may be observing early signs of plateauing activity, trends vary across affected areas. 2️⃣ Airport Malaria in Germany Two residents of Frankfurt-Schwanheim, near Frankfurt Airport, have been diagnosed with P. falciparum malaria despite no travel to an endemic area. Authorities are investigating whether infected mosquitoes arrived via aircraft from the tropics. This event comes after six airport employees were diagnosed with malaria since early July, two of whom died. The new cases mark the first time the cluster has extended beyond airport staff to nearby residents. The new cases in Schwanheim, alongside the earlier airport employee cluster and deaths, suggest a continuing exposure risk around Frankfurt Airport, which now extends the event beyond the original workplace cluster. 3️⃣ Mpox Clade Ib in Portugal Portugal has confirmed 282 mpox cases so far in 2026, over 80% of which are Clade I, including 13 small clusters (nine involving Clade Ib) concentrated in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported 66 recent infections with mpox Clade Ib in Portugal in the six weeks up to 26-Aug-2026, the highest figure among European countries. Portugal's event is no longer just an importation signal: the WHO has classified the country as experiencing community transmission of Clade Ib, which makes continued local spread and repeated hidden chains more likely even if notifications have eased in recent weeks. Be in the know, with data on outbreaks delivered straight to your inbox, with insights from our subject-matter experts! Contact us to learn how.

Day 1 is almost here. Tomorrow, we open the GPHCB Global Webinar: AI for Public Health Surveillance — The Future of Outbreak Detection and Health Intelligence. Joining us: 🎙️Dr.Rumi Chunara Associate Professor of Biostatistics and Computer Science & Engineering, NYU | Director, Center for Health Data Science 🎙️Dr. Andrea Thomas Director of Epidemiology, BlueDot.Global 🎙️Dr. Mariana Torres Pediatric Infectious Disease & Immunology Physician | AI-Driven Infectious Disease Intelligence. Day 1 — Thursday, August 27 3:00 PM EDT Watch live on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/efwnvqG4 You can open the link now and select Notify me” so YouTube alerts you as soon as we go live. See you soon. #GPHCB #PublicHealth #ArtificialIntelligence #PublicHealthSurveillance #HealthIntelligence #Epidemiology #GlobalHealth

Join Dr. Andrea Thomas and Dr. Mariana Torres M.D. TOMORROW, August 27th at 3pm EDT for out webinar with Global Public Health Credentialing Board. The webinar focuses on AI for public health surveillance, specifically focusing on detecting and responding to disease outbreaks, and health intelligence. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gBMm5v73 Audience Viewing Link: https://lnkd.in/efwnvqG4 #PublicHealth #ArtificialIntelligence #Webinar

Official case counts are essential. But in emerging outbreaks, they rarely tell the whole story. Our team has been closely analyzing the ongoing Ebola disease outbreak caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. As of our latest update, the outbreak is still growing rapidly as detection improves, with an estimated doubling time of ~8 days and ongoing transmission reported across the DRC provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. Detection is improving. But our analysis suggests that the true outbreak burden is still substantially higher than official confirmed case counts. Using exported cases into Uganda, cross-border movement patterns, affected population estimates, and sensitivity analyses, our current outbreak size estimate is: ~1,345 cases (95% CI: 735–2,255). Assuming a 50% reduction in volume of cross-border travel due to border measures restricting non-essential travel (in place as of 21-May-26), the outbreak size estimate increases to 2,689 cases (95% CI: 1,471 – 4,512). That is approximately 2 to 4x larger than the 626 confirmed cases reported in official data as of June 9. This gap matters. Ebola Bundibugyo virus disease can present with non-specific symptoms in the early stages, including fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and nausea. In a setting where malaria is very common and symptom overlap is substantial, detection can be extremely difficult without timely laboratory confirmation. The operational context makes this even more challenging. Response teams are working in a fragile humanitarian setting affected by conflict, insecurity, population movement, strained health systems, and community mistrust. At the same time, the geographic risk picture remains important to communicate clearly: The outbreak is still concentrated in three provinces in eastern DRC, with linked clusters in Uganda among travellers from DRC seeking healthcare, and healthcare workers. Global risk remains low. Risk within the DRC, Uganda, and surrounding countries remains much higher. For outbreak intelligence, the question is not only: “How many cases have been confirmed?” It is also: “How many infections are we likely missing, and where could the outbreak move next?” That distinction is critical for situational awareness, resource prioritization, cross-border preparedness, and faster containment. For access to our updated report, see https://lnkd.in/gHrEXefW. #Ebola #Bundibugyo #OutbreakIntelligence #Epidemiology #PublicHealth #HealthSecurity #InfectiousDisease #DiseaseSurveillance #GlobalHealth #DRC #Uganda