It wasn’t long ago when we had our hearts in our mouth wondering about how the Zika virus would be curtailed. We were all badly shaken about the Zika epidemic in 2015 which occurred just as we were getting over the Ebola virus.
Even scarier is the knowledge that the Zika virus was being spread by mosquitoes. While the situation seems to have been curtailed, we know better than to hang our boots waiting to be hit with the next fatal outbreak.
More alarming is the fact that Malaria has become drug resistant putting a major setback to the anti-malaria fight.
No doubt, mosquitos are as dangerous as they were when we first encountered them.
The Discovery channel newly premiered a show that seek to educate people about the dangers of mosquito and also stress the importance of a global fight against the small but mighty creature.
American technology firms such as Microsoft and Verily are also working with several U.S states to test new high tech tools that can be used in combatting mosquitos.
Microsoft is looking into the use of smart traps to isolate and capture Aedes aegypti mosquitoes which are the major carriers of the Zika Virus. This is to aid entomologists in predicting outbreaks.
Verily is also creating sterile male mosquitos that will be released to mate with females – A process that should be a form of birth control to reduce the creation of more species.
The involvement of these tech companies in trying to find solution to this age long pest is very refreshing. This is because most of the other methods are largely traditional defenses such as the use of insecticides and larvicides.
When speaking to Reuters, associate professor of entomology at the University of California, Anandasankar Ray said “It’s exciting when technology companies come on board”.
