Plague Desk documentation

Know what you’re looking at.

A practical guide to the monitor: find a report, follow its evidence and check how fresh the information is.

The desk monitors published news and health bulletins. Article counts and map markers do not measure infections or show disease spreading in real time.

Explore the reporting

Choose a time window. The map and feed use the article’s publication date. Start with 7 days for recent coverage, or widen the window for context.
Select a country. Click a shaded country, a marker or the country selector to focus the feed. Clear the selection to return to the world view.
Narrow the feed. Search headlines and filter by source type or language. Several articles may cover the same event.
Open a report. Inspect its publisher, original publication date and acquisition date, then follow the original source for the full story.

An unmarked country means no article was mapped there in the current view. It is not an assurance that no cases exist. Headlines with unclear or conflicting locations stay in the feed without a map marker.

Open the monitor

Read the clinical figures

Check the reporting period before reading a case or death total. The clinical panel separates annual surveillance figures from individual events. Its counts do not change when you search headlines or adjust the news window.

Open the country breakdown to inspect coverage and definitions, then follow the original source. Missing active-infection or outcome counts stay unavailable. Do not add event cards from different periods to the annual totals.

Open the WHO report · Read the clinical-data definitions

Understand the update clock

Every 15 minutesThe server schedules a check of the configured news searches, including English and Russian coverage.

Every 60 minutesThe server checks the configured WHO, ECDC and CDC feeds for relevant headlines.

Every 60 secondsAn open dashboard checks for the latest saved collection. It also refreshes when you return to the tab.

At the publisher’s paceA source can publish later than an event happens. Collection frequency cannot remove that reporting delay.

“Live” describes an automatically updating monitor, not a continuous measurement of infections. The collection history shows actual completed runs. Source errors and rate limits can delay the next attempt.

Read a source check

HealthyThe most recent retrieval succeeded, the response was readable and the check is still within its expected freshness window.

OverdueThe last check is older than expected. Previously saved reports remain visible with their original dates.

Rate limitedThe provider asked for fewer requests. The collector waits before trying again.

Failed / not checkedA retrieval could not be completed or no successful check has been recorded yet. This is a data-connection status, not an outbreak status.

Open a source’s details to inspect its check time, response time, HTTP result and matched headlines. A successful feed with zero matching headlines is different from a failed connection. Neither establishes that a country is disease-free.

Inspect the connected sources

Separate evidence from a headline

Media reports are attributed claims from publishers. Official bulletins come from a health authority, but can also describe an investigation, potential event or advice. “Under investigation” means the cause has not been established in the reviewed evidence.

The publication date is not automatically the date an illness occurred. Historical reporting and research are labelled as context and do not create active map markers. The Irkutsk summary carries its own review date; incoming articles do not automatically rewrite its conclusion.

Read the full methodology and coverage limits

If you need health information

The public guide explains plague, symptoms, treatment and prevention, with links to WHO and CDC. Use local health-authority advice for current instructions in your area. The desk does not assess personal medical risk.

Read the public health guide

Inspect how the desk works

Browse the application’s published source snapshot and download its archive. The collector, source list, filters, map logic and tests are included. Private credentials, account configuration and stored report data are excluded.

Source visibility lets you inspect the implementation. It does not independently confirm a diagnosis or a publisher’s claims: those still need evidence from the original reporting and health authorities.

Browse source code

Project support

The support bar displays the configured contract address and network. Copy saves the public address to your clipboard. Reading the monitor is free and does not require connecting a wallet.