Young kids in their Silicon Valley uniforms of hoodies and sneakers sit hunched over laptops, talking on the phone and instant messaging while simultaneously mashing together and analyzing massive amounts of disparate data. Large monitors with maps and streaming news line the walls. There are no windows, so it’s hard to determine if it’s daytime or evening. Discarded coffee cups and junk food wrappers also fail to reveal the hour. Occasionally an older group wearing suits and formal business attire enters, chats, and then just as quickly disappears. As the discussion comes into focus, its purpose emerges: a 24-hour global situation room for emerging diseases. At the top of the agenda of this California control room are Nigeria, Dubai, and Suriname. Clear signals from the masses of data collected have elevated their risk profile to “regular alert,” which means that roughly 20 percent of the team’s effort is focused on getting more data, interfacing with on-the-ground team members, and conversing with local and international health leaders.
