Infographic: How HealthMap Tracks Disease

A group of epidemiologists and computer scientists built a system to mine various online sources for keywords suggesting disease outbreaks.

Written byEmma Yasinski

| 1 min read

Save for Later

Listen with Speechify

0:00

1:00

ABOVE: MODIFIED FROM © ISTOCK.COM, BAMLOU AND STUDIO-PRO

HealthMap, an online database created by researchers at Boston’s Children’s Hospital in 2006 to collect accounts of potential disease cases from sources available online, mines text from various online outlets for terms that suggest disease outbreaks. The system pinpoints the location of the case on a world map and reveals clusters as they begin to emerge, such as when reports of a “strange fever” began to pop up at the start of the Ebola outbreak. Epidemiologists review and confirm data, then use them to predict how quickly the disease will spread.

Read the full story.

Interested in reading more?

The Scientist ARCHIVES

Become a Member of

Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!

Join for free today

Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

Emma Yasinski
Emma is a Florida-based freelance journalist and regular contributor for The Scientist. A graduate of Boston University’s Science and Medical Journalism Master’s Degree program, Emma has been covering microbiology, molecular biology, neuroscience, health, and anything else that makes her wonder since 2016. She studied neuroscience in college, but even before causing a few mishaps and explosions in the chemistry lab, she knew she preferred a career in scientific reporting to one in scientific research.
View Full Profile