Kirkland company claims to be first to detect swine flu outbreak
KIRKLAND, Wash. -- A company based here said it was the first to detect and sound an alarm on the current swine flu outbreak.
It was just two years ago when Veratect started tracking threats all over the world. When people are sick anywhere in the world, they know about it.
Veratect knew about our current swine flu outbreak a good 18 days before the World Health Organization or Centers for Disease Control.
A map projected on a plasma screen in the company’s lobby shows all the diseases that Veratect is following all over the world.
"This is what's happening -- it's gone through the full analysis," said CEO Bob Hart.
Zoom into Southern California and you see what's under investigation -- more than half a dozen confirmed swine flu cases.
"We've seen it spreading very widely and very quickly across the globe," he said.
But how can Veratect see it before the CDC or World Health Organization?
"We do things that they don't do," Hart said. "We're looking for the very early indicators of emerging risk, while it's still a tiny, tiny event."
Hart told KOMO News the company matches computer technology with human analysis.
"We use artificial intelligence to help us decide where to look at," he said. "We look at tens of thousands of sources both on the Internet and off the Internet."
Those sources then move from machine to humans.
Analysts, most with a masters in public health and skilled in many languages, then dig in. This is why Hart said Veratect saw it first - and when they did, they alerted public health groups worldwide, but he said nobody listened.
"And you know over the following week, 10 days, it started to become much more serious and started to spread in a bigger way," he said.
By April 20, Hart said they knew how serious it was, so they called to convince the CDC.
"I don't think you're paying to attention to it right now," he said he told the CDC. "They had, they were concerned about outbreaks of other issues throughout the United States. (I said) 'This needs to be top of your priority.'"
It is now. The World Health Organization raised its alert level Monday afternoon.
And if you want to stay alert with this outbreak, you can follow Veratect on Twitter, with up-to-the minute tweets on the latest swine flu cases.
Veratect doesn't just follow diseases. It also follows civil unrest.
Its corporate clients use data from both to know if they need to avoid a certain port or change business direction in a certain country.
It was just two years ago when Veratect started tracking threats all over the world. When people are sick anywhere in the world, they know about it.
Veratect knew about our current swine flu outbreak a good 18 days before the World Health Organization or Centers for Disease Control.
A map projected on a plasma screen in the company’s lobby shows all the diseases that Veratect is following all over the world.
"This is what's happening -- it's gone through the full analysis," said CEO Bob Hart.
Zoom into Southern California and you see what's under investigation -- more than half a dozen confirmed swine flu cases.
"We've seen it spreading very widely and very quickly across the globe," he said.
But how can Veratect see it before the CDC or World Health Organization?
"We do things that they don't do," Hart said. "We're looking for the very early indicators of emerging risk, while it's still a tiny, tiny event."
Hart told KOMO News the company matches computer technology with human analysis.
"We use artificial intelligence to help us decide where to look at," he said. "We look at tens of thousands of sources both on the Internet and off the Internet."
Those sources then move from machine to humans.
Analysts, most with a masters in public health and skilled in many languages, then dig in. This is why Hart said Veratect saw it first - and when they did, they alerted public health groups worldwide, but he said nobody listened.
"And you know over the following week, 10 days, it started to become much more serious and started to spread in a bigger way," he said.
By April 20, Hart said they knew how serious it was, so they called to convince the CDC.
"I don't think you're paying to attention to it right now," he said he told the CDC. "They had, they were concerned about outbreaks of other issues throughout the United States. (I said) 'This needs to be top of your priority.'"
It is now. The World Health Organization raised its alert level Monday afternoon.
And if you want to stay alert with this outbreak, you can follow Veratect on Twitter, with up-to-the minute tweets on the latest swine flu cases.
Veratect doesn't just follow diseases. It also follows civil unrest.
Its corporate clients use data from both to know if they need to avoid a certain port or change business direction in a certain country.