diff --git a/src/Marathon.UI/Components/NavBody.razor b/src/Marathon.UI/Components/NavBody.razor
index 5c12a22..e337411 100644
--- a/src/Marathon.UI/Components/NavBody.razor
+++ b/src/Marathon.UI/Components/NavBody.razor
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 @implements IDisposable
+@using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection
 @inject IStringLocalizer<SharedResource> L
 @inject AnomalyBrowsingState AnomalyState
+@inject IServiceScopeFactory ScopeFactory
+@inject ILogger<NavBody> Logger
 
 <nav class="m-nav" aria-label="primary">
     <div style="padding: var(--m-space-5) var(--m-space-4) var(--m-space-4); border-bottom: 2px solid var(--m-c-ink);">
@@ -100,9 +103,56 @@
 </style>
 
 @code {
+    // Keep the unread badge live without a visit to the feed. A short poll is fine:
+    // the count is a cheap server-side COUNT(*) over an indexed timestamp.
+    private static readonly TimeSpan PollInterval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(15);
+    private readonly CancellationTokenSource _cts = new();
+
     protected override void OnInitialized()
     {
         AnomalyState.OnChange += OnAnomalyStateChanged;
+        _ = PollUnreadAsync(_cts.Token);
+    }
+
+    private async Task PollUnreadAsync(CancellationToken ct)
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            // Refresh once immediately so the badge is correct at startup too,
+            // then keep it fresh on the timer.
+            await RefreshUnreadAsync(ct).ConfigureAwait(false);
+
+            using var timer = new PeriodicTimer(PollInterval);
+            while (await timer.WaitForNextTickAsync(ct).ConfigureAwait(false))
+            {
+                await RefreshUnreadAsync(ct).ConfigureAwait(false);
+            }
+        }
+        catch (OperationCanceledException)
+        {
+            // Component disposed — stop polling.
+        }
+    }
+
+    private async Task RefreshUnreadAsync(CancellationToken ct)
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            // Fresh DI scope per tick so we never touch a page's scoped DbContext
+            // concurrently from this background loop.
+            await using var scope = ScopeFactory.CreateAsyncScope();
+            var anomalies = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<IAnomalyBrowsingService>();
+            var count = await anomalies.GetUnreadCountAsync(AnomalyState.LastSeenUtc, ct).ConfigureAwait(false);
+            AnomalyState.SetUnreadCount(count); // no-op (and no re-render) when unchanged
+        }
+        catch (OperationCanceledException)
+        {
+            throw; // bubble cancellation so the poll loop exits
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            Logger.LogDebug(ex, "NavBody: failed to refresh unread anomaly count; retrying next tick.");
+        }
     }
 
     private void OnAnomalyStateChanged() => InvokeAsync(StateHasChanged);
@@ -110,5 +160,7 @@
     public void Dispose()
     {
         AnomalyState.OnChange -= OnAnomalyStateChanged;
+        _cts.Cancel();
+        _cts.Dispose();
     }
 }