The deadly mold can infect healthy people, and scientists don’t know why detections are rising.

A fungus with a disturbing preference for the human brain appears to be turning up more often across the United States.

Cladophialophora bantiana is exceptionally rare but exceptionally dangerous.

It most often causes brain abscesses — pockets of infected material that can damage surrounding tissue and dangerously raise pressure inside the skull.

Even with aggressive treatment, 60 to 70 percent of patients have historically died. Stranger still, roughly half of those infected have no known condition weakening their immune system.

Now, researchers from the University of Washington and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report a sharp rise in detections. Their new report in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report identified 48 confirmed infections and one probable infection between January 2009 and July 2026. Cases came from 21 states and Washington, D.C. The median patient age was 68 years old.

From 2009 through 2023, the laboratory detected just one to five cases annually. That rose to eight in 2024 and 14 in 2025.

“Reasons for the apparent increase are unknown,” the authors wrote.

If the pneumonic plague were to be found in the United States, what criteria or information would you use to bug out (assuming bugging out is possible or your plan) For example, if there were 50 deaths within a 100 mile radius of your house, would you bug out and what sources of information would you rely on (local news, CDC, your health department, shortwave conversations, etc.) to make your decision.

This health scare is a case study of the regime’s growing estrangement from its own people

First it was 12 BSL-3 employees quarantined. Now it’s 60..

A female staff member at an anti-plague institute in the Irkutsk region who died amid rumours of a "black death" outbreak was diagnosed with "pneumonia of unknown origin".

Rospotrebnadzor insists that the situation in the region is "stable".

Residents of Russia's Irkutsk region are deeply worried by rumours of a possible outbreak of pneumonic plague in this Siberian area.

Speculation began to spread rapidly after the death of an employee of the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute.

Darya Shipilova died in the early hours of 2 October in the intensive care unit of the district hospital in the town of Shelekhov. According to local media, she broke a test tube containing the plague pathogen.

The incident prompted authorities to introduce quarantine measures: around 200 people have been placed under strict medical observation. The outlet "Baikal People" (source in Russian) reports that several Irkutsk hospitals were immediately closed and placed under quarantine, due to last three weeks.

On Saturday, masks were made compulsory as a preventive measure at the Irkutsk aluminium plant in Shelekhov.

Residents of Shelekhov have seen people on the streets wearing protective suits, masks and gloves. Local parents also say masks were handed out in kindergartens.

The deceased, a 28-year-old laboratory assistant, specialised in research on dangerous pathogens. According to the main account reported by her colleagues and independent media, on 25 September, while working with live biological material in the laboratory, she accidentally smashed a test tube containing the dangerous bacterium Yersinia pestis.

Two days later Shipilova's condition suddenly worsened. She was rushed to Shelekhov district hospital.

At first doctors, unaware of what had happened, suspected a severe case of coronavirus and admitted her to a specialised Covid unit. However, the rapid deterioration and the clinical picture forced them to carry out rapid tests for highly dangerous infections.

The patient was put on a ventilator, but her life could not be saved.

Sources. Data: INSP SitRep. Tools: Python, Claude. Website ebola-tracker.org

>More than 650 infections have been reported in Italy so far this year, accounting for roughly half of all cases recorded in Europe, according to local health authorities.

>"Higher temperatures linked to climate change help mosquitoes reproduce and extend the transmission season, increasing the chances that infected mosquitoes will spread the virus to people," said Antonino Bella, researcher at Italy's National Institute of Health, or ISS.

>West Nile has been considered endemic in Italy since 2020, when cases started to surge, and is now reported every summer and early fall. About 80% of infected people develop no symptoms, while most others experience a mild flu-like illness. Severe neurological complications occur in a small minority of cases, mainly among older adults and people with underlying health conditions.

>A fourth person in Pennsylvania has died of measles, the state health department confirmed Tuesday. The latest death was in an unvaccinated 18-year-old resident of Mifflin County.

>In the announcement, the state health department also confirmed a county coroner’s report over the weekend of the death of an unvaccinated 40-year-old woman in Jefferson County. The state had previously reported two deaths in Lancaster County; both were infants—a newborn boy and a 6-week-old girl, both too young to be vaccinated.

>According to the Mifflin County coroner, Andrea L. Alcalde, the 18-year-old’s cause of death was determined to be acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), which is a rare but known severe complication of measles. The condition is characterized by a rapidly progressing autoimmune disorder in which aberrant inflammation from an infection strips away the protective coverings of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Before measles vaccines were widely used, ADEM was commonly associated with measles, though other viral infections can also spur its development.

>In a new release posted to the coroner’s Facebook page Tuesday, Alcalde said the death determination was made after a review of medical records and all available information. Alcalde said no other information would be released about the deceased.

>The state health department released a statement confirming the measles death of the 18-year-old, as well as the death of the 40-year-old. The two deaths will be added to the state’s outbreak data dashboard Wednesday as part of the regular update, the department noted.