TAMPA, Fla. — Researchers at the University of South Florida are asking for the public's help to track mosquitoes in the Tampa Bay area.
Ryan Carney, Assistant Professor of Digital Science at USF, and other researchers created Mosquitodashboard.org. The dashboard maps data from three apps: iNaturalist, Globe Observer, and Mosquito Alert.
Carney said people may download one of the apps and upload photos of dead or alive mosquitoes. USF uses the data collected to identify the species of mosquitoes using artificial intelligence.
"When you think about it, the mosquito, that’s the deadliest animal on the planet; it's responsible for over 700 million infections and nearly one million deaths; that’s probably an underestimation," said Ryan Carney.
Recently, health officials in Sarasota County confirmed six cases of malaria. Carney said identifying the species of mosquito is significant.
"The parasite that causes malaria is only transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes, so here in Florida, we have 80 different species of mosquitoes, 14 of those species are Anopheles," said Carney.
USF received a grant from the National Science Foundation about three years ago to study the population. Carney hopes people download the apps and help them track the population so researchers may prevent the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses.
"You can think of them as little flying hypodermic needles of disease, and so we’re asking citizen scientists to help us to find those malaria-spreading needles in the Florida haystack," said Carney.
To view the dashboard and learn more about each app, visit: mosquitodashboard.org.
