COVID-19 Coronavirus and other virus UK and World News Update 11th September 2026
Just before the return to school, COVID figures began to rise from a sustained very low level. That 'uptick' has continued, and if you go by percentage of positive test results (England) and wastewater readings (Scotland) it looks like we have about as many people with COVID now as we did a couple of weeks further on last Autumn This is still 'baseline' and at a very low level, as are flu and RSV.
The UK Government's latest figures for Meningitis B still highlight it as an ongoing risk for students, especially those entering their first year at university or other higher education, or halls of residence. During 2025-2026, in 15 to 24-year-olds in England, 96 developed invasive Meningitis, of which 93 cases were Meningitis B. Those who survive are fortunate if they are unscathed and may have life-long injuries or disabilities.
School leavers and first-year undergraduates remain eligible to 2 doses of MenB vaccination for protection. If you (or your offspring) haven’t yet had yours, please contact the number on your invite or your GP.
The UK is completely out of Venlafaxine 75mg immediate-release tablets, and not expected to be able to get any more stocks until November. This is a fairly common medicine used as an antidepressant, for panic attacks and anxiety, and to relieve symptoms such as hot flushes. If you are on it, please don't worry because other doses are available, and you may be prescribed a different sized dose temporarily.
After the torrential flooding in the capital of the Philippines, Manila, there has been an outbreak of Leptospirosis so bad that it has been declared an epidemic. Last week infections leapt from 1.27% of the population to 3.48%. Hospitals have opened extra wards but are still full.
Usually caught from the urine of creatures like rats, Leptospirosis (also known as Weil's disease) can contaminate water or soil. It generally causes flu-like symptoms including headache, fever, joint and muscle pain, and can sometimes worsen, causing jaundice, difficulty breathing or using the loo, and other symptoms. Treatment is with doxycycline antibiotics, which also have limited success as post-exposure protection. Doxycycline is being urgently distributed to health centres in affected areas.
The DRC’s deadliest Ebola outbreak on record has now spread to a 7th province (South-Ubangi). The total number of CONFIRMED Bundibugyo Ebolavirus cases is 6,942, and 3,349 people have died (fatality rate 48.2%). This is a MASSIVE undercount. 823 people are currently receiving treatment and 1,647 have recovered and gone home to their families.
(Those maths don't quite add up. The missing patients may be people who ran away and don't have a known outcome.)
This outbreak is still growing, and running faster than the authorities chasing it. More people are dying at home than in treatment centres, there is massive distrust of authority, and it's a poor population who work till they drop and are as likely to believe they're cursed as they are sick.
DRC is now relatively cut off, with travel to and from affected or barred with most other countries. Neighbouring countries are on high alert, and quarantines are in place for anyone still legally allowed to cross the border. Even so, frankly it's miraculous we haven’t yet had more cases appear around the world.
4 vaccine candidates are now going through trials, and the Ervebo vaccine for Zaire Ebolavirus is also being given to at-risk contacts, and medical and frontline staff, in the hopes it offers some cross-protection.
Just as we saw with COVID, the more people this runs through, the more potential for mutations or errors when it multiplies inside someone's body. These can work in our favour, or the viruses. It's not really an 'upside', but it also gives more opportunity to study the virus, and fine tune treatments and care so that patients have the best chance of full recovery possible.
Carried by migrating birds, H5N1 Avian Flu is likely to return to the Northern hemisphere over the next 4-6 weeks. Great Britain has been free of highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu) since 18th May 2026.
In the US detections have trickled along relatively quietly over Summer, but still there have been 14 new bird flocks confirmed affected in the last 30 days (8 commercial and 6 backyard) and 5 cattle herds (Texas and Idaho).
In the Southern hemisphere H5N1 continues a relentless march into Australia, affecting mainly seabirds, but also now native birds and animals as it begin to move inland, including urban foxes in suburbs of Adelaide and Melbourne. As of yesterday 10th September, there have been 515 confirmed events of H5 bird flu in Australian mainland wildlife. Vaccinations of rare and endangered bird species have already begun.
The UK has reported its first ever human case of Dermatophilus.
This is a bacterial disease which causes "rain scald" or "mud fever" - a severe skin condition in animals. Historically common in cattle, it was very rare in humans in Europe until recently.
Human cases have been reported in several European countries this summer, including France, Germany, Norway, and Spain, clustered around sexual transmission, and people who practice martial arts.
A woman from Tampa, Florida is suspected to have died from locally-acquired Dengue Fever.
We think of Dengue to be more of a tropical disease, but cases in the US are increasing. Since the beginning of 2026 there have been 72 confirmed infections in Florida. Cases have also occurred in Hawaii, Texas, Arizona, and California, and US territories.
Spread by mosquitoes, Dengue causes flu-like symptoms, high fever, joint and muscle aches, severe headache, sickness and a rash, so it’s not an obvious diagnosis at first.
Think you're safe from Dengue in the UK? Well, you are, for now... For the first time ever this year the tropical mosquito species, Aedes aegypti, has been found breeding in the UK, in east London. These are the mosquitoes responsible for carrying some tropical diseases including Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya.
UK HSA are asking the public to remove standing water (where they breed) and send photos to mosquitowatch. They will destroy any they find, but it may be a losing battle, as climate change means it could be warm enough for Aedes aegypti to thrive in the UK by 2040.
According to Reuters sources, US head of Health and Human Services RFK Jr asked CDC officials to remove the 2 Pennsylvania measles-associated deaths from the records. Sadly the newly installed CDC Director Erica Schwartz agreed and removed them without even blushing. This led to a 'heated debate' between RFK Jr and the Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who both accused the other of politicising the deaths of 2 people.
Normally the CDC would not question state health authorities, they'd just collect the information, but hey ho, measles data looks so much better now that those 2 people aren't listed... Both of the deceased were infants too young to be vaccinated.
The US measles outbreak is continuing, with a total of 3,294 cases this year, smashing last year's total. Only 2% are known to be fully vaccinated. 8% (267) have been hospitalised. (But no deaths now, so that's great news.)
The UK outbreak really does seem to have calmed down thankfully, with only 14 new cases in the past 4 weeks, for a 2026 total of 983.
The measles outbreak in Canada appears to have been contained and curtailed. Only 1 new case reported last week. Nice work Canada.
The current increase in Bluetongue virus in UK livestock has put labs under pressure, so vets have been given the authority to diagnose cases without having to wait for test results.
The disease is spread by midges, mainly affects cows and sheep, and there have been 1,048 farms affected in England already this year, around half in Devon and Cornwall.
With the new arrival of Bluetongue in SW Scotland, there is now a Restricted Zone in place. 84 Scottish cases have been diagnosed since the first on 8th August, affecting 24 holdings/farms.
Scientists in China have discovered a new zoonotic (animal to human) tick-borne virus. They have named it Asian longhorned tick nairovirus (ALTNV).
Patients yet again exhibit flu-like symptoms, with fever, fatigue and stomach upset, and blood changes - they have a low platelet count (thrombocytopenia).
ALTNV was spotted because researchers were trying to find out why around 30% of people with presumed Dabie Bandavirus (DBV - a haemorrhagic fever) test negative. Turns out it may be because they have something else.
DBV has a fatality rate of around 6-30% and is endemic across parts of Asia. The newly discovered disease ALTNV was found in 10.4% of 3,163 patients being treated for tick bites. In patients who tested negative for DBV, 15.1% had ALTNV. The good news is that all of the patients who only had ALTNV recovered completely, so it appears milder than DBV, which this year has caused around 600 confirmed cases and over 20 deaths (the majority in China).
Does the shingles vaccine really reduce your chance of developing dementia? Most studies so far have repeatedly found a reduction of around 20%, but surprisingly a UK study found no difference. Research is still ongoing - because it's only science if you can repeat the results, and spot the broken patterns. In the US you are generally recommended the shingles vaccine after age 50, but in the UK the NHS have previously offered it to 70-80 year olds, and recently began a rollout to people 65+. There definitely seems to be a link, but timing, age and/or other factors could be really important.
A North Carolina petting zoo has had a disaster. Several of their baby goats have tested positive for rabies. The goats came into contact with a large number of visitors on site, and were also taken out to other locations in a mobile zoo.
It's assumed that a skunk which had previously broken into their enclosure must have been infected, and sadly the baby goats were too young to have been vaccinated. The zoo owners seem really lovely and quite devastated, offering to talk to any member of the public who is concerned. Health officials also want to talk to anyone who came into contact with the goats, as a round of rabies shots is waiting for them.
In the US each year between 2000 and 2024 there were only an average of around 2.4 confirmed human cases of rabies - low because everyone is aware you should take the rabies jabs if you know you are exposed, and then you don't develop rabies. Paradoxically there have been 4 times in history when transplant patients have died from undiagnosed rabies caught from the donor. There are actually very few organ donations, so those numbers don't make sense.
A study has crunched the figures and researchers believe that around 93% of US human rabies cases, and deaths, might go undiagnosed. Based on the number of people infected by transplants, there should actually be more than 35 US human rabies cases each year.
Rabies can travel in the body for a very long time, as long as a year, but you are still infected. Once it reaches the central nervous system and symptoms begin, death will follow. You may not remember a scratch a few weeks or months ago, you may not even know that a bat bit you, and there could be many other possible reasons for your symptoms. You may be misdiagnosed as having mental illness and die within days from cardio-respiratory arrest (the heart stops pumping and breathing stops), or more rarely when paralysis occurs, it is often misdiagnosed even in countries where human infection is common. For some higher risk people including those who are homeless, remote or rural, patients may be unaware how ill they are, have accidents or otherwise die as a result of rabies impairing brain function before any symptoms have even been noted by anyone else.
Probably another good reason to check on your friends and family more often...
It's the weekend! I am exhausted after 3 weeks where we never seemed to pause for breath, and I definitely didn't get enough sleep. Tomorrow night I don't have to go anywhere or fetch anyone from work, so I'll be having a movie night in front of the TV with a burger, some chip sticks and a refreshing beverage. I've been looking forward to it for days, and it might not be the healthiest way to relax, but it'll do my mental health no end of good. I hope you don't forget to do something nice for yourself too - you've earnt it, you deserve it, and it'll help your mental health too. Your brain is the most important organ you've got, so take care of it.
I'll be back in 2 weeks, until then...
Look After Your Head, Make Sure Your Big Kids Get Their Jabs Too, Save The NHS...
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Sources Repeating
UK Health Data
https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/
UK latest COVID cases UPDATES THURSDAY 4pm
US CDC respiratory dashboard
https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data/index.html
Reference pages H5N1
https://bnonews.com/index.php/human-cases-of-h5n1-bird-flu/
https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/index.html
Measles Sit Rep US CDC
UK cases Measles
Canada Measles
Sources Images
UK GOV you need 2 meningitis B doses for full protection Image
Thailand eliminates Rubella
https://x.com/WHO/status/2096899235291750765
Boys are offered HPV vaccine too
https://x.com/UKHSA/status/2096973171362549968
Hillwalking safety image UK met office
WHO post pregnancy mental health image
https://x.com/WHO/status/2095527391745417474
Sources Text
COVID dashboard UK
https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/respiratory-viruses/covid-19
Scotland resp dashboard
Latest figures highlight ongoing Meningitis B risk for students
Manila Leptospirosis
Manila Weils disease
Leptospirosis
Bundibugyo sitrep
Bundibugyo vaccine candidates
4th Bundibugyo vaccine candidate
australia bird flu foxes
australia h5n1 overview
Dermatophilus congolensis in Europe
The UK Health Security Agency told The BMJ that the case had been identified in Scotland and was linked to attendance at a sex-on-premises venue.
Dengue Florida death
US CDC Dengue stats
https://www.cdc.gov/dengue/data-research/facts-stats/index.html
US 2026 Dengue stats
UK Gov mosquito press release
Invasive mosquito London
EXCLUSIVE: Kennedy asked to remove Pennsylvania measles death from CDC tally, sources say | Reuters
Measles deaths RFK Jr angry
Pennsylvania measles deaths
Measles deaths infants
Vets can diagnose bluetongue virus to cut test waiting times - BBC News
Scotland Bluetongue
A Zoonotic Orthonairovirus from Febrile Patients in China | New England Journal of Medicine
CIDRAP new tick-borne virus in China
Dementia and shingles
Baby goats had rabies at NC petting zoo, attendees urged to contact health officials
Substantial under-detection of rabies study
Rabies and transplants
Rabies timeframe WHO
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