Predicting Pandemics: It’s Not Easy, But Researchers Are Trying

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January 28th, 2019

Scientists, frustrated with insufficient prediction models, are more frequently turning to Twitter posts and Google searches to monitor in real time how viruses like seasonal influenza and other communicable diseases may spread. But it’s complicated.

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By Prajakta Dhapte 

Studying human behavior on a large scale has long been used to try to predict how diseases move through a population.

In the latest twist on this principle, your online footprint may offer valuable insight to researchers who are trying to thwart deadly disease outbreaks before they become widespread.

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