On Wednesday, the tool they call GPHIN got a lot better. The system now trawls sites in six additional languages, looking for rumours and clues that often turn out to be the first hints of emerging and potentially dangerous health problems for disease detectives at agencies like the World Health Organization.

The head of the WHO´s global influenza program didn磘 hesitate for a second Wednesday when asked if the system has been useful.

"I can here give a very short, very precise answer. And the answer is: Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely," said Dr. Klaus Stohr, who was also a key figure in last year´s battle to contain SARS.

"GPHIN since its beginning . . . has become an extremely valuable tool for public health."

The acronym stands for the Global Public Health Intelligence Network, but all who know it call the system by its nickname, which sounds like G-FIN.

It was developed by the staff of Health Canada - now the Public Health Agency of Canada - and is managed by the federal Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response in Ottawa.

"In a world where diseases respect no borders, it is important that we cooperate across borders internationally as well," Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh said at a news conference at the United Nations where GPHIN2 was unveiled.

The new, improved GPHIN2 will use its sophisticated computer algorithm to monitor Internet postings in English, French, Spanish, simplified and traditional Chinese, Arabic and Russian, on a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week basis.

Analysts currently sift through about 10,000 news reports a month red-flagged by the computer program, passing along via secure web connections daily reports to WHO and other subscribers.

More than 30 per cent of the disease rumours WHO chases down are brought to its attention by GPHIN, Stohr said.

The program´s upgrade was funded in part by former media mogul Ted Turner´s Nuclear Threat Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the threat of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

"We are really indebted to you," Turner´s co-founder, retired U.S. Senator Sam Nunn said at the news conference.

"You are the world leader in providing early warning to the world, WHO and other health organizations around the world."