HealthMap On The Web # 2162
We live in a world awash in pathogens, and on average, a new emerging infectious disease appears every year. Keeping track isn't easy, even if you subscribe to the available reporting services.
A terrific way to get a real-time visual representation of what is happening on the infectious disease front is HealthMap, an interactive web resource that tracks disease outbreaks from around the world.
Their website describes their mission this way:
About HealthMap
HealthMap brings together disparate data sources to achieve a unified and comprehensive view of the current global state of infectious diseases and their effect on human and animal health
.
This freely available Web site integrates outbreak data of varying reliability, ranging from news sources (such as Google News) to curated personal accounts (such as ProMED) to validated official alerts (such as World Health Organization).
Through an automated text processing system, the data is aggregated by disease and displayed by location for user-friendly access to the original alert. HealthMap provides a jumping-off point for real-time information on emerging infectious diseases and has particular interest for public health officials and international travelers.
By clicking on the `flags', you can drill down to the originating report. You can also narrow down the time frame (30 days is the default), and show only those disease classifications that interest you.
Reports are accumulated from the following sources (you may select or deselect the ones you are interested in).
ProMED Mail
ProMED MBDS
World Health Organization
EuroSurveillance
Google News
Moreover Technologies
ProMED Español
Google News Español
ProMED Français
Google News Français
ProMED Русский
Google News Русский
Google 资讯
And, as of 21 Jul 2008 at 09:07 EDT, these are the reports currently being tracked.
Not Yet Classified (140)
Salmonella (135)
Avian Influenza (53)
Dengue Fever (50)
Cholera (47)
Measles (46)
Tuberculosis (46)
Foodborne Illness (33)
E. coli (32)
Anthrax (31)
West Nile Virus (31)
Poisoning (30)
Other Plant Disease (29)
Malaria (28)
Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (25)
Diarrhea (24)
Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (18)
Gastroenteritis (18)
Undiagnosed (18)
Hepatitis (15)
Meningitis (15)
Influenza (13)
Marburg Fever (13)
Other Animal Disease (12)
Polio (12)
Blue Ear (11)
Dysentery (11)
Rabies (11)
Bluetongue (10)
C. difficile (10)
Algae (9)
Enterovirus (9)
Hantavirus (9)
Pests (9)
Trichinosis (9)
Typhoid (9)
Chikungunya (8)
Encephalitis (8)
Foot and Mouth (8)
HIV/AIDS (8)
Chronic/Non-Infectious Disease (7)
Legionnaires' (7)
Norovirus (7)
Brucellosis (6)
Leptospirosis (6)
Cryptosporidium (5)
Pneumonia (5)
Whooping Cough (5)
African Swine Fever (4)
Classical Swine Fever (4)
MRSA (4)
Parvovirus (4)
Rift Valley Fever (4)
Sheep/Goat Pox (4)
Chicken Pox (3)
Eastern Equine Encephalitis (3)
Japanese Encephalitis (3)
Leishmaniasis (3)
Plague (3)
Shigellosis (3)
Waterborne Illness (3)
Cold (2)
Equine Influenza (2)
Hospital-Related Infection (2)
Listeriosis (2)
Monkeypox (2)
Mumps (2)
Scabies (2)
Sexually Transmitted Disease (2)
Staph (2)
Syphilis (2)
Yellow Fever (2)
Botulism (1)
BSE (1)
CJD (1)
Ebola (1)
Echinococcosis (1)
Gonorrhea (1)
Peste des petits ruminants (1)
Rash (1)
Respiratory Illness (1)
Rotavirus (1)
Scarlet Fever (1)
Schistosomiasis (1)
Strangles (1)
Tetanus (1)
Vaccine Complication (1)
Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (1)
An excellent resource, and one I'll be adding to my sidebar.
