Scott Porad

I recently met Josh Knauer who is the founder of Rhiza Labs.  Rhiza has an amazing platform for rich data visualization, and one of their most well known products is FluTracker (http://flutracker.rhizalabs.com).

FluTracker is a user-generated mechanism for tracking outbreaks of the H1N1 virus across the country. If there is suspected case in your area, you can report it.  And, like any good UGC system, Josh’s team verifies the accuracy of the report before posting it.

Government data only tracks outbreaks down to the county level, but FluTracker allows it to be tracked down to a specific location on a map.  So, for example, I was able to see that there haven’t been any outbreaks in my neighborhood.

One of the key takeaways from this data that Josh has learned is that “airports are the new waterways”.  In other words, when disease virality was first researched in the 1800’s the conclusion was that diseases primarily traveled along waterways.  In modern times, diseases travel through airports.

That caused me to think this: most airports are operated by state or county governments, and it is mainly county health departments that are working to control the spread of disease.  Why don’t county health departments put hand sanitizer (i.e. Purell) at the airport?

If cruise ships have figured out that asking people to use hand sanitizer before they eat reduces illness, why can’t we do the same when we fly?  For instance, as part of going through security you could be asked to sanitize your hands.  I bet that would reduce the virality of disease dramatically.