(The following Associated Press article by Joe Ruff appeared on the Grand Island Independent website on August 18.)
OMAHA, Neb. — The University of Nebraska and the nation’s largest railroad are developing a system to track worker absences that could lead to early detection of disease outbreaks, including a bioterrorist attack.
“We want to find an outbreak of disease almost before it is happening,” said Dr. Steven Hinrichs, head of the university’s Center of Biosecurity.
A computer program could weed out common reasons for spikes in employee absences, such as workers getting their children off on the first day of school or taking off an extra Friday or Monday around a weekend, Hinrichs said.
Union Pacific Corp., based in Omaha, has used computers for years to track the availability of its train crews. It already knows to expect fewer workers at certain times, such as during deer hunting season, spokesman John Bromley said.
“It’s a joke around the railroad, try to find train crews on opening day of deer season,” Bromley said.
The railroad covers the western two-thirds of the country with at least 20,000 engineers and conductors constantly registering their availability for work, Bromley said.
Enough is known about trends on the railroad to detect unusual spikes in people staying home from work, Bromley said.
“Something different or wild would pop up right away,” Bromley said. “If there was an episode of Asian flu or something we would see it almost immediately.”
The university is seeking a federal grant to pursue development of the tracking system, which could be extended to other key industries, including airlines and electrical companies, Hinrichs said.
A researcher at the nonprofit Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., David Siegrist, said tracking employee absences to detect bioterrorism attacks is an interesting concept.
“I think behavioral indicators will be one of the first indications of illness,” Siegrist said.
Detecting surges in doctor visits and pharmaceutical purchases also have been discussed, said Siegrist, who has consulted with the Department of Defense on early detection of disease outbreaks, including bioterrorism.
Hinrichs argues that visits to doctors and pharmacies would only happen after employees report they are too sick to go to work.
“How long are you sick before you go to an emergency room or the doctor?” Hinrichs said. “Those two or three days could be a very significant time.”
The university has asked the Department of Homeland Security for a grant to help it and Union Pacific make the idea a reality, Hinrichs said.
The grant could range from $200,000 for a limited project to $1 million for operating the program for two years, Hinrichs said.
The university’s medical center in Omaha is seeking greater influence in the fight against bioterrorism, including possible designation as a national bioterrorism laboratory, Hinrichs said.