Pandemic Vector Map
Ideally, this flu outbreak burns itself out quickly (a la SARS).
If it doesn’t – we could soon see the global supply chain system crash overnight. However, the traditional media is too slow and too beholden to vested interests (noise) to cover the story well (particularly in regards to effective preparation).
So who should you read instead?
- Excellent map depicting how the disease migrated here.
- Vinay Gupta of STAR-TIDES and Hexayurt fame has a very useful orientation guide. Vinay’s done a lot of great work in this area and his Twitter feed is also a great resource.
- Veratect, a biosurveillance firm has activated a twitter feed.
NHPSS
A smart friend on the forefront of medical technology policy explains (via email):
The robust surveillance systems are not publicly available.
One particularly interesting (restricted) system I’ve heard of is the NHPSS. It tracks real-time over-the-counter and prescription drug sales across the country. If a certain class of drugs starts selling at a disproportionately high level in a specific geographic region, triggers/alarms go off. Apparently it has been very successful at catching outbreaks very early, even rather small ones.
Confusing Empowerment for Twitter
Foreign Policy runs a pretty lame column on how Twitter is amplifying the noise levels in coverage of the swine flu outbreak. The solution is simple – empowered consumers of information should pick smarter people to listen to. Instead of hailing this development, the author spends words putting together a movie-plot threat.
Disease Dashboard
Is there a good pandemic dashboard for individuals, families, and communities to track this (or any) disease?
CDC provides good quality data on the symptoms etc, could pull that and map Promed data on a map.
DHS Report on Violent Vets
Regardless of the political noise around it, the DHS report on combat vets (loosely defined) as armed non-state actors is useful. We’ll should more go the merc route (security privatization) vs renegade radical.