Fortunately, the lack of a diagnosis confirmation remains an issue for HealthMap, the tool used last year to track the spread of H1N1. How much faith can the scientific community have in a tool that last year tapped online news media as its primary source? Co-creators of the map, while acknowledging the need for such confirmation, nonetheless push forward with their plans to tap even more informal sources, including blogs, Twitter, Facebook--even direct reports from users. Public health interpretation, and the forecasts and guidance that follow, remain unreliable until a confirmation technique is in place. Journal article