"Google Engineers Are Trying To Help Fight the Zika Virus Outbreak", 3 Mar 2016

Google…has donated $1 million to…UNICEF…and some of its engineers are working with the agency to map the Zika virus outbreak. The Zika virus…is already believed to have caused almost 5,000 cases of microcephaly…The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency…However, as Google said…it’s difficult to map because most people with the virus don’t show any symptoms. Google said…“A volunteer team of Google engineers, designers, and data scientists is helping UNICEF build a platform to process data from different sources…in order to visualize potential outbreaks. Ultimately, the goal…is to identify the risk of Zika transmission for different regions and help UNICEF, governments and NGO’s decide how and where to focus their time and resources. This set of tools is being prototyped for the Zika response, but will also be applicable to future emergencies.” As for the $1 million grant, that’s intended to help UNICEF reach the public, develop vaccines and reduce mosquito populations. Google will also match employee donations with the goal of giving an extra $500,000 to UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organization…