Internet "Bird Flu" Pioneer Melanie Mattson Dies

Filed under: nnxj.com — jack @ March 13, 2010 edit
  • Hat tip Senior Moderator Fla Medic


    In Memorium - Melanie Mattson (http://www.newfluwiki2.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=52E3CC3FE005534427E7EFC1FD 1C52F5?diaryId=2588)

    by: DemFromCT (http://www.newfluwiki2.com/userDiary.do;jsessionid=52E3CC3FE005534427E7EFC1FD 1C52F5?personId=2)

    Fri Jul 11, 2008 at 07:20:17 AM EDT

    Melanie Mattson was one of the founding Editors of the Flu Wiki, its initial "public face," the official publisher, and our colleague. More importantly she was our friend. We are grieved to announce her unexpected death. On her blog, Just a Bump in the Beltway, Melanie was among the first on the internet to understand and write about the significance of reported human cases of avian influenza as a potential harbinger of a pandemic. She joined forces with us to start the Flu Wiki in June 2005 where she was a dedicated and innovative practitioner of a new medium, collective information generation and dissemination. At the time of her death she was engaged in expanding what she learned from her blog and Flu Wiki to a wide range of natural disasters.

    Melanie was a wonderful human being, a lovely person and a Grand Lady in every sense of that term. Melanie sometimes used salty language, could be bluntly honest and had an irreverent and earthy sense of humor, so she would no doubt be amused to be referred to as a Grand Lady. But that's what she was and still survives in the affection of those of us fortunate to have known her. She'll be missed.
    -DemFromCT, Revere, pogge



    FluTrackers extends its condolences to her family, friends, and everyone at Flu Wiki and Effect Measure. A very sad loss indeed.


  • :( She was a very nice lady and truly concerned with the state of public health and with the risk of a pandemic. She was always a trooper and I remember when she got the wikie going and was on all the time. Running a website is not an easy task and is a full time job in itself. She was a standout and true pioneer in bringing news to the public at large. She was one of the very first people I looked up to in Flublogia. I admired her greatly. She had a good sense of humor too! I am very sorry to hear of her passing. My hat is off to her for starting, practically singehandly, the parent of all flu sites. My condolences to her family and all wikie friends she has influenced. She will be greatly missed :tiphat:


  • I did not have much interaction with her over the years as she lessened her participation at Flu Wiki, but at the beginning of Flu Trackers, in the Spring of 2006, she was very gracious to us. She sent me several emails and was very generous with her time and information. This was a period when Flu Trackers was struggling to establish. She offered us a hand up when the "chips were down".

    She was a true humanitarian.

    Thank you Melanie for believing the internet could make a difference in the "real" world. We are all the beneficiaries.


    "Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others; it is the only means."
    Albert Einstein


  • RIP, Melanie Mattson.

    Thank you for your service to humanity.







    • #If you have any other info about this subject , Please add it free.#
    Your name:
    E-mail:
    Telphone:

    Your comments:


    If you have any other info about Internet "Bird Flu" Pioneer Melanie Mattson Dies , Please add it free.