Hong Kong has no plans to link up with a real-time initiative called Google Flu Trends, which claims to predict an epidemic within days
A spokeswoman for the Centre for Health Protection said the city's influenza surveillance systems were extensive and it had no plans to partner with Google's flu prediction tools.
Hong Kong has one of the most efficient flu surveillance systems in the world and works with the World Health Organisation and overseas health authorities.
Last week, the centre confirmed that the city had its longest flu season in a decade with one death per day on average.
Google's model for predicting epidemics within days compares with the several weeks needed by many national health authorities to confirm an outbreak through laboratory tests. However, infectious disease and data experts are divided on how this wealth of information could be Hong Kong's next weapon against a deadly virus.
The model tracks online searches for key words related to flu such as symptoms, medication and complications of a virus. Key words include fever, bronchitis, pneumonia, robitussin (cough medicine) and amoxicillin (antibiotic). It works with data from 28 countries including the United States, Canada, Australia and many in Europe and South America.
Japan is the only country in this region using the model. A Google spokeswoman said there were no plans for Hong Kong to join.
