In Part Four of our six-part series, legal missteps, political caution, and evidentiary hurdles allowed Project Coast’s mastermind to walk free.

Nelson Mandela stepped down as president of South Africa on 13 June 1999. He wanted to set an example on the African continent and disrupt its tradition of having lifetime heads of state.

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Earlier this year, Dr. Jeremy Faust noticed what he considered a remarkable COVID landmark that came and went with little fanfare.

From early May through early August, COVID was virtually nonexistent in Massachusetts’ waste water. During that roughly three-month period, the virus claimed fewer than 10 lives, a record low over the past six years.

As flu season settles in on College Hill, sniffles can be heard in every lecture hall. In students’ curiosity as to how they can stay healthy, they may turn to an age-old adage: an apple a day keeps the doctor away.

The World Health Organisation has said it doesn’t know how a lab worker in Siberia died, and she urged Russia to provide more information about a case that prompted global concerns about suspected pneumonic plague.

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A 28-year-old worker at a research laboratory in Siberia recently died of pneumonia. The facility studies plague, among other pathogens, raising fears that she had been exposed at the laboratory.

In 2024, poliovirus was detected in Gaza's wastewater before a paralytic case was confirmed, and the World Health Organization (WHO) found continued environmental circulation into the following year. By the end of 2025, however, no further detections had been reported, suggesting that a targeted vaccination campaign during a brief ceasefire may have interrupted transmission. The episode shows why epidemic intelligence in damaged urban environments cannot depend on clinics alone: wastewater and other environmental signals can reveal transmission when routine care and reporting have been disrupted. Damage to health facilities and water and sanitation systems further weakens the capacity to prevent, detect, and contain outbreaks.

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Florida's former surgeon general, Dr. Scott Rivkees, warned of "great harm to children" if the state Department of Health moves forward with its proposal to eliminate rules that require four vaccines for young children in daycare and schools.

A laboratory worker in a plague research institute in Siberia died last week after developing pneumonia. Since then, local reports suggesting that she broke a test tube containing plague bacteria have fueled speculation about how she became ill. Russian authorities disputed that account and told the World Health Organization (WHO) that plague had not been detected in her tests nor in those of her close contacts.
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She builds the alarm systems that warn us before an outbreak becomes a pandemic. A conversation about why prevention is invisible until it fails, what the world learned too late from Ebola and COVID, and the next threat she is racing to get ahead of.

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The Trump administration is struggling to get clear answers about the death of a Russian laboratory worker at an institute dedicated to studying the plague and has formally escalated its request for information from the country, amid days of stonewalling from Russian officials about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the episode.

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The reported death of a 28-year-old laboratory technician in eastern Siberia has triggered regional quarantines and international attention over fears of the cause of death and a lack of transparency.

According to local media reports, Darya Shipilova, a technician employed at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, died on Oct. 2 at a regional hospital in the nearby town of Shelekhov. She had been diagnosed with pneumonia of “unknown” origin, according to Rospotrebnadzor, Russia’s public health agency.

What diseases are spreading right now? Are we even tracking diseases anymore? Should I be worried about measles? Should I bother getting my flu and COVID vaccines? We dive in and answer ALL those questions on this week's episode of the pod

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We go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the site of the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history. Health authorities believe the outbreak first began in January but was not detected until May, in part due to cuts in global health investments, like the dismantling of USAID. Since then, over 8,000 cases have been recorded, with more than 4,000 fatalities so far.

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A woman’s death last week near a Russian facility studying the plague immediately put the world on alert. This is the plague, after all, responsible for the deaths of some half of the humans in Europe during the worst outbreak in the 1300s. And it happened in Russia, a country with a long history of bioweapon experimentation.

Thousands of people have been quarantined in Russia after a 28-year-old lab worker died from suspected pneumonic plague, leading to concerns about global transmission.
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This past weekend, “CLIMATE-CULTURE-COMMUNITY” was the central theme behind the Brown Political Review’s inaugural documentary film festival PROV/DOC. The two-day festival showcased documentaries from student, faculty and local filmmakers that spotlighted underreported issues, according to Julianna Muzyczyszyn ’27, BPR’s co-editor-in-chief.
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Before Wilmot James — professor of the practice of health services, policy and practice — took the helm of the Africa Initiative at the Watson School of International and Public Affairs this year, he had on a number of different roles. From penning a speech for Nelson Mandela to serving in the South African Parliament, James brings wide-ranging knowledge of African health security to his new role on College Hill.

The US says it is closely monitoring the death of an employee at a Siberian "anti-plague" laboratory from what Russian officials are calling pneumonia of an unknown origin.

The fatality in the eastern city of Irkutsk last week has sparked conflicting statements from regional politicians and federal authorities in Russia.
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Russian authorities told the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday that a laboratory worker who died last week had not been found to have plague, and that no cases had been detected among people who came into contact with her.

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In the third of a six-part series, the new South African President FW de Klerk is shocked to learn of the apartheid biological weapons programme and takes action to suspend those involved in what was known as Project Coast.
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From apartheid to the front lines of global health, Listening to Shadows is the gripping true story of one man’s fight for freedom, truth, and survival.
At a moment when democracy and truth are under siege across the globe, Listening to Shadows tells the extraordinary story of South African Member of Parliament and Shadow Minister of Health Wilmot James, who rose from the power struggles in South Africa to the front lines of global health leadership.
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The second of six parts on the apartheid-era biological programmes that went by the benign name of Project Coast – a covert endeavour representing some of the worst practices in building and dismantling a biological weapons capability responsibly. Profound lessons can be learnt about how to – and how not to – govern high-consequence projects.

As governments and international organizations convene for the 81st United Nations General Assembly to address challenges including infectious diseases, wildfire smoke and extreme heat, the Brown University Pandemic Center, Montenegrin Institute for Advanced Innovation (MIAI), Air Club and International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) have launched the Global Indoor Air Quality Policy Database.

Director Jennifer Nuzzo and the Tracking Report are featured in this article on alternative information sources.

The first comprehensive global database of indoor air quality policies gives leaders the evidence to act, and shows momentum building fast, even as most countries still lack anyone clearly in charge.

As world leaders gather at the 81st United Nations General Assembly to confront disease threats, wildfires, and extreme heat, the Brown University Pandemic Center, Montenegrin Institute for Advanced Innovation (MIAI), Air Club and the International WELL Building Institute today released the Global Indoor Air Quality Policy Database, a tool to help governments strengthen resilience against many threats at once. It is the first comprehensive repository of country indoor air quality (IAQ) policies, cataloguing 253 policies across 53 countries.

As world leaders and climate experts gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and Climate Week, a major milestone in public health and environmental governance has been unveiled: the release of the Global Indoor Air Quality Policy Database.

The U.S. declared measles eliminated in 2000 — so why are we seeing more cases and deaths than in the last 30 years? Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo reveals the hyper-local vaccination gaps driving the resurgence, and why preparing for the next pandemic starts on your block, not in Washington.

The first comprehensive global database of indoor air quality policies gives leaders the evidence to act, and shows momentum building fast, even as most countries still lack anyone clearly in charge

The first of six parts on the biological programmes that went by the benign name of Project Coast – a covert endeavour representing some of the worst practices in building and dismantling a biological weapons capability responsibly. Profound lessons can be learnt about how to – and how not to – govern high-consequence programmes.

With 177 new cases added today, the US measles count has climbed to 3,471, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in its weekly update has yet to acknowledge any of the four measles-related deaths recently reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH), two in babies and two involving adults.

As Bangladesh faces a deadly measles outbreak, experts assess what it would take for the U.S. to reach similar levels

In Bangladesh, hospitals and community health workers are facing an unrelenting battle against measles. Despite increased vaccination rates, cases have surged into the deadliest outbreak the South Asian country has seen since 2005.

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Investment in continent’s health professionals is key to early outbreak response

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A third person has died from complications associated with measles in Pennsylvania amid a fast-growing outbreak in the state and rising cases nationwide.

A 40-year-old woman died on Saturday, the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office has confirmed. Greg Furlong, the coroner, said in a statement, "This is a heartbreaking loss for the family and an unfortunate reminder that measles can be a serious and potentially life-threatening disease."

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So far, approximately 2,000 frontline workers have been vaccinated against Ebola virus in a growing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, WHO told Healio.

The vaccine, Ervebo (Merck), is licensed for a different species of Ebola than the one causing the outbreak, but early nonclinical data show it may provide some cross-protection against the currently circulating strain.

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This hour, we look at the spread of measles in the United States. We also talk to health and science communicators who are working to tell the story of that disease in new ways.

GUESTS:

Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo: Director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown School of Public Health, and a Professor of Epidemiology
Brinda Adhikari: Award-winning executive producer, showrunner and journalist, who is Co-Host of the "Why Should I Trust You?" podcast
Teri Mills: Retired nurse educator, grandmother, and Board member and Vice President of Media for Grandparents for Vaccines

The world-renowned health financing expert brings extensive international development leadership to the Pandemic Center at Brown University

Rep. Byron Donalds, a Republican from Florida who is running for governor, has blamed “rampant illegal immigration” during the Biden administration for measles outbreaks. But we found no link to illegal immigration in several recent large outbreaks, and infectious disease experts told us that the main driver of the cases is falling measles vaccination rates in the U.S.

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Measles-linked deaths recorded since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took office have surpassed those recorded in the previous 20 years combined.

Since 2025, there have been five confirmed deaths related to measles—three CDC-confirmed measles deaths in 2025 and two deaths in 2026.

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Public health officials say with the rise of conspiracy thinking at the highest echelons of our national government, the next pandemic response could be so much worse. But they did have one potentially innovative and surprising, if disconcerting, solution to our national public health information crisis: A.I. has the potential to help stave off a conspiratorial catastrophe during the next pandemic.

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Center’s Tracking Report brings vital information to readers everywhere
PROVIDENCE — “Public distrust of public health guidance from the government is being fueled by what seems to be a never-ending, ubiquitous — and dangerous — current of phony science and false claims,” Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo states in the Pandemic Center 2025-26 Impact Report.

As kids embark on a new school year, newly released data shows that more kindergartners are heading to class with vaccine exemptions.

Jennifer Nuzzo, the director of Brown University's Pandemic Center, said that rise in vaccine exemptions is enough to cause concerns about disease outbreaks in schools.

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Accelerating Defence and Health Capabilities for Medical Countermeasures Readiness

In a combative interview on CNN, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. opened the conversation with a throwback claim.

“We had the highest death rate from COVID of any nation on earth,” Kennedy said. When host Dana Bash challenged him, Kennedy doubled down: “What I said was accurate. We had the highest death rate from COVID.”

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A food-borne parasite wreaking havoc on digestive systems has Americans on alert this summer.

A parasite present in water and food contaminated by human excrement is making life miserable for thousands of Americans. The parasite is cyclospora and the illness it causes is cyclosporiasis. Most who contract it can recover without needing treatment, though it can persist for a month or more. (A long time to endure symptoms that include “explosive diarrhea.”)

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Plans are underway to launch a phase 3 trial of an existing Ebola vaccine to fight the ongoing deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, WHO told Healio.

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