Healthmap getting more use with official groups

Healthmap is one of those resources I've been showing students in class for the past year or two. Here's a nice quick note from Nature Medicine that supports that it's getting more use by official health-related units.

The internet brings massive amounts of data combined with up-to-the-minute changes and flexibility. By culling through this data and tying in geographic mapping, there are some really creative projects that are changing the way we track and predict disease spread.

http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v18/n2/full/nm0212-185.html?WT.ec_id=NM-201202

whole genome sequencing of E.coli in outbreak

Article in Genome Technology this month: (click to see it)

stresses the power of the genomics age. Check out this timeline:
- received sample on May 30
- completed genome sequencings on June 1
- Genomes assembled and submitted to NCBI by June 2

Findings
- that E. coli was a new strain
- that E. coli had many antibiotic resistance genes

concept of "Genomic epidemiology"discussed

Another part of this article looks at MRSA and genomic sequencing of 63 isolates - identifying 6700 SNP (single nucleotide polymorphisms) that accounted for the variability seen and related to the microevolutionary changes being seen.