A new scientific system developed by a St. Michael's Hospital
physician, designed to rapidly evaluate the world's air traffic
patterns, accurately predicted how the H1N1 virus would spread
around the world, according to research published in the New
England Journal of Medicine today. St. Michael's Hospital
scientist and infectious disease physician Dr. Kamran Khan and
colleagues analyzed the flight itineraries of the more than 2.3
million passengers departing Mexico on commercial flights during
the months of March and April to predict the spread of H1N1. The
findings show the international destinations of air travelers
leaving Mexico were strongly associated with confirmed
importations of the H1N1 virus around the world. "The
relationship between air travel and the spread of H1N1 is
intuitive," said Dr. Khan. "However, for the first time, we can
quickly integrate information about worldwide air traffic
patterns with information about global infectious disease
threats. What this means is that cities and countr