Sister blog of Physicists of the Caribbean in which I babble about non-astronomy stuff, because everyone needs a hobby

Wednesday, 22 November 2017

Fighting malaria with drones filled with mosquitoes

Drones that scatter swarms of sterile mosquitoes over wide areas are being developed to help stop the spread of diseases such as malaria. Sterile male mosquitoes cannot produce offspring when they mate with females. By crowding out other males, they reduce the mosquito population. But spreading them is difficult in areas without roads, so technology organisation WeRobotics has been developing drones to do the job. It will trial the idea in 2018.

"Community engagement is also a key part of the release campaign," Mr Klaptocz told the BBC. "We may be spreading mosquitoes in areas where they are seen as a vector of death. We need to speak to the local population before a single mosquito is released." The drones are still in development, but the non-profit company hopes to trial its technology in Latin America in 2018. Mr Klaptocz hopes to focus on areas at risk from Zika virus first.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42066518

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