Google maps Swine Flu's grip on Mexico

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 30 Apr 2009 at 08:48

Google is mapping the spread of Swine Flu across Mexico based on the number of people entering flu-like terms into its search engine.

Last year the company launched Google Flu Trends in the US, which found that the use of certain search terms was a strong indication of a flu outbreak in that area.

Google cross-referenced its data against official infection figures provided by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prove that there was a strong correlation between the search data and actual flu levels.

Now, the company is conducting the same experiment in Mexico, which has been hardest hit by the recent outbreak of Swine Flu.

Google hasn't yet been able to validate its Mexico figures against official infection statistics, but has enough confidence in the data to map the outbreak across the country.

"Experimental Flu Trends for Mexico is, as you might have guessed, very experimental," the company writes on the Google blog. "But the system has detected increases in flu-related searches in Mexico City (Distrito Federal) and a few other Mexican states in recent days, beginning early in the week of 19-25 April."

The hope is that Google will one day be able to detect, and even predict, flu outbreaks before they reach certain areas, so that medical authorities can be prepared in advance of an outbreak.

Indeed, the company is already keeping a close eye on Swine Flu's potential spread into the US. "Our current estimates of flu activity in the US are still generally low as would be expected given the relatively low confirmed swine flu case count," the company reports. "However, we'll be keeping an eye on the data to look for any spike in activity."