Tools to Track Public Health Online
One of the cool things I learned about during theĀ Conference on World AffairsĀ panel on "Superbugs and Pandemics" was the existence ofĀ Healthmap, a site that aggregates freely available information and turns it into maps showing what is happening in human and animal public health, and where it's happening. The info comes from sources ranging from Google News, to the World Health Organization, toĀ ProMED Mailāa site that reviews and curates reports of disease outbreaks.
For instance, the map above shows the location of reported measles outbreaks in the United States during the past month.
The system isn't foolproof, but as a generalized information source, I can see it being very handy. If you were about to travel, you could see whether the place you were going had any current health risks you ought to know about. If you're wondering whether local news is blowing the risk of flu out of proportion, you could check and see how the number of reported cases in your state or country compares to othersāand to last month. You can search by disease, or location.
via Maggie Koerth Baker of Boing Boing
