How AI is joining the fight against mosquito-borne diseases

The Manila Times

How AI is joining the fight against mosquito-borne diseases  At the 8th Asian Dengue Summit in Manila from June 15-18, delegates are expected to say how both education and innovation are key to help curb the spread of dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases.  Dengue is a mosquito-borne tropical disease that kills about 20,000 people a year and infects hundreds of millions.   At the University of South Florida, researchers are developing a mosquito trap that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to quickly identify the disease-carrying insects. This could be used as an early-warning device for local authorities to alert them of the rise in risk to public health.   TIMBUKTU CONTENT/SC JOHNSON/REUTERS VIDEO  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net  Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion   Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital   Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein  Soundcloud: https://tmt.ph/soundcloud   #TheManilaTimes #tmtnews #artificialintelligence  #mosquitoes  #dengue

Transcript

00:00When I had dengue,

00:29I feel everything I'm I'm dizziness vomit and headache all around that and then I feel weak.

00:59About my kids if how can I protect them every day to prevent dengue for for them.

01:11I don't want to see mosquito mosquito yeah.

01:17I'll do it carefully.

01:36So mosquitoes have been around for millions and millions of years and certain species

01:40like Aedes aegypti which can transmit dengue are very well suited to adapting to live around

01:46where people are.

01:47So they can lay their eggs and the larvae can develop in a bottle cap or a very small amount

01:52of water in objects found in and around your homes.

01:56We do consider the mosquito to be the most deadly animal on the planet.

02:00More deadly than humans on human violence.

02:04Much more dangerous than hippos, crocodiles, other animals you can think of.

02:23Female mosquitoes need blood from people or other animals to develop and grow their eggs

02:29so they can reproduce and create the next generation of mosquitoes to bother us and transmit diseases.

02:34But because they do take blood from us, certain species can pick up viruses or parasites or

02:39other pathogens and they can develop inside the bodies of the mosquitoes and then when the

02:44mosquito bites another person, they can transmit that pathogen to someone else and that's why

02:48we have diseases like dengue and malaria circulating among human populations but spread by mosquitoes.

02:54So there's an attractant in the trap.

03:20The mosquito, the female mosquito will fly into the trap.

03:23There's a fan that blows the mosquito in.

03:26One of the components here is a sticky pad so the mosquito will land on the sticky pad.

03:29The light and camera will flash, take an image of that mosquito.

03:33We have algorithms that process that image and direct an artificial intelligence algorithm

03:37to identify the anatomical components as well as the species of the mosquito and that

03:43information is then shared with the user and so we can get a sense of what mosquitoes

03:47are in a specific area remotely and effectively and very quickly.

03:54Identifying where the disease-carrying mosquitoes are is very important because then the public

03:55health officials can go there and launch control efforts to prevent the disease-carrying mosquitoes.

03:56And then we can look at the features of these mosquitoes, compare them with known mosquitoes.

04:02So we can do that.

04:03So I would show them that and then also the Steven Tsai from last year.

04:06Identifying where the disease-carrying mosquitoes are is very important because then the public

04:20health officials can go there and launch control efforts to prevent further outbreaks.

04:26And you know, given the advancements in AI, we decided that we can come up with a smart

04:29AI-enabled mosquito trap that can trap mosquitoes, use AI to automatically identify the disease-spreading

04:35ones, whether it's Zika, malaria, dengue, etc.

04:59So there are obviously a lot of high-tech solutions on the horizon that can help us combat mosquitoes

05:10and mosquito-borne diseases.

05:12But one thing we know from a century or more of efforts to try and combat these diseases is

05:17that it's going to take more than one solution.

05:19So we know that tried-and-true things like using a personal repellent, one that contains

05:25DEET or picaridin or other active ingredients that are shown to be effective, we know that

05:29if you protect yourself appropriately with these products at the times when mosquitoes are

05:35going to bite you, and if you're particularly looking at mosquitoes that may transmit diseases,

05:40you know that you can have a big impact on protecting yourself or your family from these mosquitoes

05:44that could transmit disease.

05:59But I don't Ziels...

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