Regional editions begin Oct 28

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

I am excited to announce that I am launching the second-annual regional editions of Outbreak Outlook beginning Oct 28, 2024. 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 “weather report” of respiratory and stomach bug activity in the U.S., as well as food recalls. I gave early warning of the tripledemic (September!) and alerted readers to a spring surge in norovirus before it was in the news. 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 will remain free to read. The change is that paid subscribers will have the option to receive additional updates tailored to the Northeast, Midwest, South, and Western regions. Subscriptions are $5 per month.

Format: Subscribers to my regional series get detailed, local insights. Each regional edition covers respiratory illnesses like COVID-19, flu-like illnesses, and RSV, as well as stomach bugs and food recalls, but with data specific to states in that region. Free subscribers receive the national newsletter, which provides broader information on these topics at the national level.

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

Picking a region: The options are Northeast, Midwest, South, and West, as defined by the Census Bureau. I recommend picking just one to minimize inbox traffic, but 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. (And thank you!)

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 any time.

3. Once you've done this, you'll receive an email with my updates each week as they are published, beginning October 28.

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

Please bear with me as I roll this out. I appreciate your support and I can’t wait to get started!

-Caitlin

---

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