This App Helps Citizens Report Deadly Mosquito Sightings
by The Daily Eye Team June 17 2016, 10:06 am Estimated Reading Time: 0 mins, 45 secsFor the past two years, Spanish citizens have been using an app dubbed ‘Mosquito Alert’ to report sightings and breeding grounds of Aedes albopictus, or Tiger mosquito, a species from Southeast Asia that made its way to Europe roughly a decade ago. The aim is to help scientists and pest controllers map the spread of the insect in cities across Spain, and stop it from breeding further.
The app has just been translated into Cantonese, a Mandarin version is in the works, and it will soon be released in Hong Kong, where both the Tiger mosquito and Aedes aegypti mosquito—known as the Zika mosquito—are prevalent. The Tiger mosquito is also known for carrying viruses such as Zika, Dengue, and Yellow Fever. The ultimate goal is to use the app to help stop the spread of the deadly mosquito borne disease.