Rumors of a disease outbreak a century ago would have left the general populace feeling frightened, wondering whether their town would be the next to be hit. Now, the well but worried can download a flu-tracking application and find out where in their state an H1N1 outbreak has occurred and learn the best ways to avoid it, USA Today reports. They also can learn when vaccines will be available nearby and get news on and how some of the afflicted are doing. Outbreaks Near Me, a new, free application developed by nonprofit HealthMap, is among a slew of flu-themed applications available on the iTunes App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch owners. A few dozen other flu-related apps have been created recently, including HMSMobile Swine Flu Center, by Harvard Medical School, which offers medical advice with animations. The CDC does not comment on such products, but spokeswoman Karen Hunter says the agency is in the prototype stage of several new flu applications for the iPhone and Google Android, and it’s already using mobile text messaging (to sign up, text HEALTH to 87000) and a mobile web site to distribute flu updates to tens of thousands of subscribers…

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