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If you want to help from your PC at home: http://tasks.hotosm.org/


I originally flagged this as spam; it did not seem immediately relevant. Now I see it DOES contain a task related to the Ebola outbreak... but I still don't understand what it is.

Can you explain what this is, and how it helps?


http://hot.openstreetmap.org/projects/guinea_ebola_epidemic

> An outbreak of Ebola struck Guinea causing at least 187 infections and 117 deaths. Aid organisations are taking emergency measures to contain the spread of this highly infectious and deadly virus. Crucial to this work, is an understanding of where the populations are centred. Detailed and accurate maps of the region are vital, which is why organisations such as MSF are working closely with the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team to coordinate our mapping community and deliver maps to field workers.

As far as I can tell, it's a crowdsourced effort to turn satellite photos of the area into high-quality maps, which sadly do not exist in these areas.


It's a real thing, and there has been some news coverage indicating that the effort has been helpful. Here's a blog post with a little more detail, and several relevant links:

https://www.mapbox.com/blog/osm-ebola-mapping/


This page discusses the work they did with MSF in March:

http://cartong.org/news/collaboration-hotmsfcartong-guinea-c...




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