The National Institute of General Medical Sciences, one of the National Institutes of Health, hosts this interesting article about the use of computer simulations to help researchers understand the spread of possible flu pandemics. Entitled Sim Sickness, the article explains how researchers are studying the spread of diseases such as flu, and how computer simulations are helping them predict (in hopes of preventing) the next pandemic.
Of particular interest is the progressive map (.wmv application – http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/computinglife/extras/vaccine-19.wmv) that shows the spread of a flu virus with no intervention (top map). The bottom map shows the predicted spread if a less-effective vaccine is administered immediately while a more-effective vaccine is developed.
Biographies of the researchers, links to the MIDAS (Models of Infectious Disease Agent) Study and research updates, and an article entitled The Rise and Fall of Deadly Dengue make this website worth looking at.