Wednesday, July 25, 2012

How The Next Great Pandemic Will Be Spread



When Contagion Strikes, It's Honolulu You Should Avoid -- The Guardian

MIT researchers have analysed which airport hubs would be key to spreading a virulent disease, with some surprising results

When the next outbreak of Sars or Swine flu hits, New York's John F Kennedy airport and Los Angeles's airports will likely be the key spreaders of disease, according to a new study. But while the influence of these super-hubs may not come as much of a surprise, the third most outbreak-friendly airport in the states is far smaller, and far less obvious – Honolulu International.

In a paper published Monday in the journal PLoS One, a team of researchers from MIT outlined a new computer model that predicts how the 40 largest American airports may contribute to the diffusion of contagious disease within the first few days of a potential epidemic.

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My Comment: Scary stuff when you think of the worst case scenario.

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