Community-based flu website tries to prepare communities | 02.26.2006 | 14:01:48 | Views: 5782 | ID: February 27 '06: A website dedicated to disseminating information regarding avian bird flu is enlisting the help of medical professionals around the world and in the US, the Associated Press reported this weekend. FluWiki.com is a site "maintained by a 52-year-old writer who specialized in risk communication," and who lives in Virginia. Melanie Mattson told the wire news service her goal is to help provide information about the disease and its spread - several flu experts who the AP interviewed said the site itself provides a helpful information guide - though not all of the links can be totally trusted. The site was launched last June and it "offers key facts about bird flu, updated stories, a roundup of officials flu plans, tips on preparedness and a discussion forum. Volunteers have translated critical information into French, Spanish, Turkish. Norwegian may be next," the AP reported. The Wiki-style format follows an open-source style which can be seen on such notable sites as Mattson's goal is to help communities prepare for a possible pandemic - something that international health experts say is potential. Fears of a bird flu pandemic have been raised after the emergence of the disease in several European countries and with the first positive test of the virus in domestic French poultry stocks.
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