IBM Develops Computer Program to Track Bird Flu

SAN JOSE, CA (KCBS)  -- Researchers at the IBM San Jose offices have developed a new software tool that may help track the spread of bird flu.

KCBS reporter Matt Bigler in the Santa Clara County Bureau notes that much of the work being done to combat the flu is being done in the laboratory. Researchers at IBM have been working hard in the computer lab to come up with a way to automate the reporting method of infectious diseases and share that data with the global health community.

"And then we're also building tools that would allow public health officials to understand that data, to visualize it and to evaluate policies that they might take in response to an emerging pandemic," said James Kaufman, who is in charge of health care research at IBM.

He says the program could also be used to create computer models of how a disease may spread.

"It's important that the world have an open source location that could be the basis for a community and once you have that community, different experts can contribute as plug ins," he said.

Kaufman says based on their models, avian flu is likely to spread both through the bird population and possibly through the transportation of agricultural products.

(sam)