Want to help study and monitor tiger mosquitoes and yellow fever mosquitoes? Mosquito Alert lets you share information about adult mosquito sightings and their breeding sites with researchers and the public.

Source: iOS description / Image: Free Stock Photos

Useful information

Download: Android (operating system version and size change depending the device) / iOS 9.0 (15.8MB)

Price: free

Language: English / Spanish / Catalan / Chinese

Runs offline: partially

Last update: Android 24/11/2016 (version varies according to the device) – iOS 18/11/2016 (v. 2.2)

Website of the developer: CEAB

Notes: article updated on 17/01/2017

Description

In August 2015, Greenapps&web had the opportunity to analyze the Tigatrapp app, designed by the CEAB. Since then, this citizen science project has continued to progress and recently it have completed a renovation of the app, being one of the points highlighted the change of the name from Tigatrapp to Mosquito Alert. And the fact is that the family grows and the Asian tiger mosquito, unique protagonist in the original app, now rivals the yellow fever mosquito, also known as transmitter of the Zika virus.

The new application has not changed excessively, keeping the same functionalities:

  • “Report breeding site”, showing a small form to fill in which data such as description (through a questionnaire), location (GPS or pointing on a map), images and additional notes are requested. This section has a help option accessible from the information icon.
  • “Report mosquito”, to record the presence of dispersed individuals not associated with a possible breeding area. It is very similar to the previous form, although in this case photos are not required (the website includes tips for getting good pictures of these insects).
  • “My map”, section where you can see the places you’ve registered as user of the application. The general map of sightings can be checked in the website (there are observations around the world).
  • “Validate photos”, where through Crowdcrafting website you can help the team of Mosquito Alert to identify if the images sent by other users correspond to any of the mosquito species under study.

The latest version for Android devices has changed the location of the “missions” or voluntary campaigns. Now is accessible from the home screen, as well as a section of notifications.

From the home screen you can still access a secondary menu (the icon of the 4 black squares or the symbol in the upper right). In this section you will find the options “Gallery”, “News”, “Settings” (here you can select the language), “Help”, “About” and “Share”.

Regarding the website, although you can’t record sightings, it includes, as the mobile app, a section in which you can help to identify the pictures sent by other users and certify whether they are actually images of tiger mosquito or yellow fever mosquito.

More information

http://www.mosquitoalert.com/en/

http://www.cdc.gov/chikungunya/resources/vector-control.html

Images: Screenshots 10/03/2016. Updated on 12/10/2016 © CEAB

Rating
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Analysis

The growth in the number of cases of zika, especially in some Latin American countries, has generated a remarkable global alarm because of studies linking the bite of Aedes aegypti in pregnant women with congenital malformations in the fetus. Similarly, some research suggests that zika patients can also develop Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks itself by mistake. For this reason, the efforts to try to combat the proliferation of these insects are increasing. For example, in addition to a website launched by US scientists in which research results are available in real time, recently two new apps, ZikaTracker and 0800 Saúde, have been launched.

To the mentioned applications, it also joins Mosquito Alert, that extends its scope by adding to the family the yellow fever and zika mosquito. If the original version of the application already stood out for its quality, its successor could not be at a lower level, highlighting again by the citizen participation that is promoted through the option to validate the images and detail of the explanations that identify the different species.

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Técnico de medio ambiente, community manager y content curator especializada en temas de medioambiente - Environmental technician, community manager and content curator specialised in environmental issues