Mobile real-time mosquito surveillance systems and community crowdsourced reporting

In this part of the work package, we will aiml to use an interdisciplinary approach (which brings to together computer science and entomology) with research partners from UCL, UFPE & UFCG to develop a new and innovative system for assisting environmental agents and managers in the identification of residential settlements that pose a significant risk of becoming a hotspot for mosquito breeding in Brazil. 

This innovative tool features two components that work in tandem with each other – first being an agent’s app built for the smartphone which aims to serve as an efficient system for the rapid collection of mosquito surveillance data directly from the field; and secondly, a dashboard built for the PC which is designed as a web-GIS based decision support system to aid managers in the automatic allocation of houses to agents for surveying, as well as providing managers maps and charts for the early warning notification of mosquito hotspots. 

Aims and Objectives:

The overarching aim for this system is to be implemented in a real-world setting in two study sites where transmission of mosquito-borne diseases is problematic. This surveillance system brings together different sources of data ranging from entomological, household characteristics, weather and spatial information collated seamlessly through the agent’s app into a big database. This rich information, in turn, will be used by the managers and stakeholders to make current & future predictions in real-time of the potential areas at significant risk of increased mosquito population. By working collaboratively with community health workers, we are currently doing the following:

  • A prototype of the platform is currently being piloted for evaluation in Recife. We have passed the initial phases and received excellent feedback and critical appraisal from agents, managers and stakeholders from the health ministry through a series of focus groups.
  • Once the data has been compiled in regular fashion, the next phased is the development of an early warning system for spatial prediction of potential mosquito outbreaks.

Researchers in this group: