This map shows confirmed or probable cases in purple, and suspect cases in pink.

For whatever reason — out of concern, curiosity or just a desire to stay up to date with current events — people are going out of their way to track the H1N1 influenza virus (that’s the swine flu) in real time over the Internet.

There’s an Internet Explorer plug-in, for example. Or you can follow the Twitter feed for the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (that’s the CDC). Others have been watching different hashtags, both serious (#swineflu) and tongue in cheek (#hamdemic, #snoutbreak, #aporkalypse and #epigdemic). At the time I write this, #swineflu is the first hashtag listed on hashtags.org.

But for those of you who like maps, and I’d wager that’s many of you, you should look at the Google Map of the outbreak, though if you’re interested in seeing all the Google Maps on it, there are plenty more. There are also lots of other cool Google Map mashups there, many of them aren’t as depressing as the flu tracker.

It’s easy to stay glued to the computer for news on this outbreak, because it’s moving so rapidly and there’s a lot of information about it online. It’s interesting and will help you learn if there have been any cases reported near you.

But it’s also easy to become obsessed with it, too. This virus is serious, yes, but try your best to stay calm, and when you seek updates, make sure you’re checking in with reputable sources with accurate information about H1N1.

If you’d like to learn more about the technology that helps us track events in our lives, take a look at these articles:

How Twitter Works
How Google Earth Works
What’s new with Internet Explorer 8?