As the climate warms, many mosquito species are spreading to new areas and may bring diseases such as dengue fever and Zika virus.
Ray: “The concern about mosquitoes in general is that some of the many species of mosquitoes carry disease.”
Ricardo Ray is a professor of public health at St. Louis University in Missouri.
His team is piloting an app that allows volunteers to help track the spread of mosquitoes in the St. Louis area.
The app, called Mosquito Alert, was developed in Spain and used in Europe and other parts of the world.
Through the app, anyone can learn about mosquitoes and upload photos of them, which are then sent to scientists for identification. The data is then shared with public health officials.
Ray's team is recruiting people to use the app and adapt it to local species. He hopes it will provide much-needed data, especially in areas with limited resources for mosquito monitoring.
Jean Ponzi is a member of project partner Missouri Botanical Garden.
Pounds: “It adds to our eyes, to our personal skills, the ability of public health professionals to monitor what kind of mosquitoes we have and how aggressively we need to respond.”
Report source: Ethan Freedman / ChavoBart Digital Media
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