WHO Disease Outbreak News (DON) API
⚠️ Non-commercial use only: WHO written authorization needed for other uses
WHO's website terms of use say:
“Extracts of the information in the web site may be reviewed, reproduced or translated for research or private study but not for sale or for use in conjunction with commercial purposes.”
“Reproduction or translation of substantial portions of the web site, or any use other than for educational or other non-commercial purposes, require explicit, prior authorization in writing.”
Source: WHO terms of use (checked Nov 6, 2026). This isn't legal advice.
For other outbreak and event sources in the catalog, see:
Each source has its own terms; read its licence note before you use it.
WHO Disease Outbreak News (DON) API
The World Health Organization's Disease Outbreak News, published as web reports and as a keyless OData JSON feed at who.int/api/news/diseaseoutbreaknews. Each item has a title, publication date, DON id and sections such as overview, epidemiology, assessment and advice.
Coverage
Global, event-driven, with no fixed release schedule. The API reported about 3,200 items on 2026-11-06, the oldest dated January 1996. DON620 (2026-10-10) covers the case of pneumonia of undetermined etiology in the Russian Federation (Irkutsk).
Verdict
WHO's own outbreak reports as a feed an agent can poll, a good first check before trusting media counts of an outbreak. WHO's website terms allow extracts "for research or private study but not for sale or for use in conjunction with commercial purposes", and other uses need WHO's prior written authorization. Non-commercial use only; Signal Lab links to WHO only.
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