The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the folks who brought the world a controversial zombie apocalypse campaign, has launched a free iPad app that lets users play a game to stem a fictitious epidemic.
Users of the app, called “Solve the Outbreak” can pretend they’re a public health detective by taking steps such as quarantining a village, asking for more lab results and interviewing sick people. Good problem-solving skills are rewarded by high points and badges.
“We look at this as an engaging opportunity to educate young people to how public health actually works, and hopefully to draw some future epidemiologists,” CDC spokesman Alex Casanova told ABCNews.com.
The app was developed in-house and cost $110,000 to develop, minus salaries, and so far it’s been downloaded about 2,000 times, he said. The goal is to get between 15,000 and 25,000 downloads in a year.
Read also:
Star in your own 'Outbreak' with new iPad app from the Centers for Disease … (89.3 KPCC (blog))
CDC iPad App Allows Users To Play Disease Detective (CBS Local)
Solve The Outbreak, CDC iPad App, Lets You Play Disease Detective At Home (Huffington Post)
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