Editorial Policy

1. How We Create Content

All content on VirusWatch is written by the VirusWatch editorial team based on publicly available data and publications from official health organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and peer-reviewed scientific literature.

We do not accept sponsored content, paid placements, or advertising influence over our editorial decisions. Sources are cited inline throughout each article with direct links to original publications and official datasets wherever possible.

Our disease briefings follow a standardised structure covering: clinical overview (symptoms, incubation period, case fatality rate), transmission routes, prevention and vaccination guidance, current global surveillance data, and outbreak history. This structure is designed to make complex epidemiological information accessible to a general audience without sacrificing accuracy.

2. What VirusWatch Is

VirusWatch is an independent public health information website. Our purpose is to aggregate and present data from official public health organizations in plain, accessible English — making global infectious disease surveillance data understandable to everyone, free of charge.

We are not a medical provider, clinical service, government health body, or licensed healthcare organization. We are a small, independent editorial team passionate about making public health data genuinely accessible and transparent.

3. What VirusWatch Is Not

• Not affiliated with WHO, CDC, ECDC, PAHO, or any government health agency
• Not a source of medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations
• Not medically reviewed by licensed physicians — content is written by our editorial team based on public sources
• Not a diagnostic tool — do not use this site to self-diagnose
• Not a treatment recommendation service — never start, stop, or change medication based on this site
• Not a replacement for professional medical consultation — always consult a qualified healthcare provider for personal health decisions

4. Our Data Sources

All data is sourced from publicly available official sources. We do not use user-submitted data, social media signals, or unverified reports. When WHO and disease.sh figures differ, we display the WHO figure with a source indicator.

5. Update Frequency

All figures represent reported cases. Actual incidence is typically higher due to underreporting, particularly in countries with limited diagnostic infrastructure. Case fatality rates (CFR) represent confirmed deaths among confirmed cases and should not be interpreted as infection fatality rates (IFR).

6. Correction Policy

We take factual accuracy seriously. If you find an error — whether a wrong statistic, a misattributed quote, or outdated public-health information — please contact us:

We aim to correct factual errors within 48 hours of notification. Corrections are noted at the bottom of any updated page with a brief description of what changed and when. We do not silently edit content — transparency in corrections is part of our editorial commitment.

7. Independence

VirusWatch has no commercial relationship with any pharmaceutical company, health insurance company, government health agency, or any organization with a financial interest in health outcomes. We do not accept advertising, sponsored content, paid links, or any form of payment that could influence our editorial decisions.

We are funded entirely by voluntary donations from users who find the site valuable. Our editorial decisions are made independently by the VirusWatch team based solely on what is accurate, useful, and clearly sourced.

We welcome scrutiny. If you believe we have violated any of the principles stated on this page, contact us at [email protected].