Tracking a new strain of flu isn’t easy. Data can be scarce and, depending upon its source, of questionable reliability. Decisions, however, have to be made: Do you close schools? Do you release the strategic stockpile of anti-virals? Do you seal the borders?
Analytics play a key role in making these decisions. In today’s NY Times, you can see how two universities have modeled the possible spread of the flu. They’ve used data on the travels of dollar bills and air traffic patterns among others. Links to more details on each project can be found in the story.
