The Problem
The Outbreaks Near Me platform is the next generation of Flu Near You and was developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Outbreaks Near Me analyzes thousands of crowdsourced reports to generate local and national maps of COVID-like-illness and influenza-like-illness. It relies on the general public to participate and report if they or their family members are sick or healthy. Those who are feeling sick are asked to describe their symptoms, recent travel history, and if they have been in contact with someone diagnosed with a respiratory virus. The Solution
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and public health organizations struggled to track the spread of disease and prepare health systems properly. Many individuals who exhibited signs of COVID-19 were unable to access testing or never sought care and thus were not captured by traditional disease surveillance methods. Outbreaks Near Me was developed to fill the gaps in reporting of COVID-19. Since the end of the public health emergency, the need for this data has not declined. The platform has expanded to capture information on other respiratory diseases, such as influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). By maintaining this robust data collection system, we are better equipped to identify emerging outbreaks and prepare accordingly.
Computational Epidemiology Lab 