Open AccessFLIRT-ing with Zika: A Web Application to Predict the Movement of Infected Travelers Validated Against the Current Zika Virus Epidemic
Author(s) -
Andy Huff,
Talli Allen,
Karissa Whiting,
Nathan Breit,
B. Arnold
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plos currents
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.282
H-Index - 49
ISSN - 2157-3999
DOI - 10.1371/currents.outbreaks.711379ace737b7c04c89765342a9a8c9
Subject(s) - zika virus , destinations , transmission (telecommunications) , computer science , geography , medicine , virology , virus , telecommunications , tourism , archaeology
Beginning in 2015, Zika virus rapidly spread throughout the Americas and has been linked to neurological and autoimmune diseases in adults and babies. Developing accurate tools to anticipate Zika spread is one of the first steps to mitigate further spread of the disease. When combined, air traffic data and network simulations can be used to create tools to predict where infectious disease may spread to and aid in the prevention of infectious diseases. Specific goals were to: 1) predict where travelers infected with the Zika Virus would arrive in the U.S.; and, 2) analyze and validate the open access web application's (i.e., FLIRT) predictions using data collected after the prediction was made.