(Image: Filiford)
Emory researchers
have invented what they claim is the cheapest, most efficient way yet to monitor adult mosquitoes
and the deadly diseases they carry. The university has filed a provisional
patent on what they're calling the "Prokopack mosquito vacuum," but the inventors have provided simple
instructions for how to make it in the Journal of Medical Entomology, and they demonstrate how to make it in the upcoming video. Keep in mind that mosquito-borne diseases rank among the world’s top killers, and the idea is to
make the Prokopack as accessible as possible.
"There is a great need for effective and affordable mosquito sampling
methods,” says disease ecologist Gonozalo Vazquez-Prokopec, the invention’s
namesake. “Use of the Prokopack can increase the coverage area, and the quality
of the data received, especially for blood-fed mosquitoes. Ultimately, it can
help us develop better health intervention strategies."
So far, the Prokopack has outperformed the current gold
standard for resting mosquito surveillance - the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention Backpack Aspirator, a hefty, uncomfortable-looking device.
This month, the Prokopack is headed to Kenya and Zambia for more field tests,
this time for the mosquito that transmits malaria.
Tags: Health, Humans, Insects and Arachnids, Video, Weird News
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