Evaluating the Utility of HealthMap as a Supplementary Surveillance Tool

HealthMap collects and aggregates information from online sources to generate outbreak alerts based on disease and geographic location. This project will assess the timeliness and sensitivity of HealthMap based on outbreak posts from EpiCom, the Florida Department of Health’s disease outbreak and health incident alert network.

Objective

To assess the outbreak detection utility of HealthMap, a publically available event-based biosurveillance system utilizing various internet-based media resources to identify outbreaks, at the state and local level. Results may help determine whether HealthMap should be monitored more closely as a supplementary surveillance tool.