Every night we sit down and check out what tomorrow's weather will be on the news or even the internet.  When Health Monitoring Systems began, this was part of our vision for EpiCenter.  We wanted an intuitive display of local health conditions, a "weather map" for the region's health.  Today, that vision is becoming a reality.

The simulated example shows what a sudden outbreak would look like around Columbus, Ohio.  It illustrates a localized outbreak that appears quickly and diminishes slowly over time.  By visualizing outbreak progression in this manner, epidemiologists can see how surrounding regions are effected.

The analysis techniques used here are being developed by Dr. Andrew Walsh, HMS's senior biostatistician.  Andy has been hard at work to develop the first open source implementation of ARIMA for use in EpiCenter.  ARIMA is a powerful and flexible technique, found in advanced statistical frameworks.  When Andy's work is complete EpiCenter will provide users with the ability to better detect and characterize events.

It also makes our "weather map" look really cool.

If you would like to talk to us about EpiCenter analysis and our work on improving the interpretation of surveillance data, drop us an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call us at 412-231-2020.