Regional editions begin Oct 21

News you can use for the upcoming sick season on Force of Infection

I am excited to announce that I am launching the third-annual regional editions of Outbreak Outlook beginning October 21, 2025. The regional editions are a great way to get more local information, tailored to what’s going around in your area.

Here is what you need to know about opting in:

What is Outbreak Outlook? I send out a weekly report of respiratory and stomach bug activity in the U.S., as well as food recalls. These updates are great for older adults, parents, people with weakened immune systems, and anyone looking to stay well.

The plan: I will continue to publish a national weekly update, which is free for everyone during the winter months. The change is that paid subscribers will also have the option to receive updates tailored to the Northeast, Midwest, South, and Western regions. Subscriptions are $5 per month.

Format: Each regional edition contains state-level data of respiratory illnesses like Covid-19, influenza, and RSV, as well as stomach bugs and food recalls.

Dates: Both the free national version and the paid regional versions will be published once a week throughout the winter months. I usually move back to my summer publishing schedule in late spring, when viral activity dies down.

Picking a region: The options are Northeast, Midwest, South, and West, as defined by the Census Bureau. You can sign up for as many as you want. The state groupings are shown in the map below, and there is a text list at the bottom of this post.

Source: KFF

How to sign up for regions

To sign up to receive regional updates:

1. Become a paid subscriber. If you are already a paid subscriber, go to step 2.

2. While logged in to your Substack account, visit https://caitlinrivers.substack.com/account and select notifications for the regions you want to receive.

   1. Select as many as you want.

   2. You can change this at any time.

3. Once you've done this, you'll receive an email with my updates each week as they are published, beginning October 21.

4. If you need help, you can reach me at crivers6@protonmail.com.

Please bear with me as I roll this out, there are always a few hiccups at the beginning of the season. Thank you for reading!

-Caitlin

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List of states in each region:

• The Northeast region includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania

• The Midwest region includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota

• The South region includes Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas

• The West region includes Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington