ZanzaMapp: A Scalable Citizen Science Tool to Monitor Perception of Mosquito Abundance and Nuisance in Italy and Beyond

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Abstract

Mosquitoes represent a considerable nuisance and are actual/potential vectors of human diseases in Europe. Costly and labour-intensive entomological monitoring is needed to correct planning of interventions aimed at reducing nuisance and the risk of pathogen transmission. The widespread availability of mobile phones and of massive Internet connections opens the way to the contribution of citizen in complementing entomological monitoring. ZanzaMapp is the first mobile “mosquito” application for smartphones specifically designed to assess citizens’ perception of mosquito abundance and nuisance in Italy. Differently from other applications targeting mosquitoes, ZanzaMapp prioritizes the number of records over their scientific authentication by requesting users to answer four simple questions on perceived mosquito presence/abundance/nuisance and geo-localizing the records. The paper analyses 36,867 ZanzaMapp records sent by 13,669 devices from 2016 to 2018 and discusses the results with reference to either citizens’ exploitation and appreciation of the app and to the consistency of the results obtained with the known biology of main mosquito species in Italy. In addition, we provide a first small-scale validation of ZanzaMapp data as predictors of Aedes albopictus biting females and examples of spatial analyses and maps which could be exploited by public institutions and administrations involved in mosquito and mosquito-borne pathogen monitoring and control.

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Blood-feeding behavior of Aedes albopictus, a vector of Chikungunya on La Réunion.

Helene Delatte, Hélène Delatte, Gwenaël Vourc’h … (2010)

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) has long been considered to be transmitted to humans by the human-biting mosquito Aedes aegypti, especially in Africa. However, the recent outbreak of CHIKV involved another vector, Aedes albopictus, and serological data in the literature suggest that several species of domestic or human-related vertebrates can be contaminated by this virus. However, the role of Ae. albopictus mosquitoes as potential enzootic vectors for CHIKV has not yet been evaluated. Here we investigate Ae. albopictus feeding and resting behaviors in an area where a CHIKV epidemic recently occurred, which means deciphering host-seeking and feeding behaviors on several vertebrate species, measuring endophagous/exophagous (activity), endophilic/exophilic (resting) behaviors and its diel (24 h, day/night) biting activity. Ae. albopictus was found to have bimodal daily feeding activities and was found to have exophagic (89%) and exophilic (87%) behaviors. Ae. albopictus showed an opportunistic feeding behavior on a wide range of hosts (from cold-blooded to warm-blooded animals), supporting that it can be implicated in various vertebrate-virus pathosystems. However, with equal availability of one of the four vertebrate hosts (calf, chicken, dog, and goat) proposed against human, Ae. albopictus significantly preferred human, supporting earlier data about its high degree of anthropophily. Multiple blood feeding was also reported in every combination (animal/human) offered to Ae. albopictus, enlightening the higher risks to spread an arbovirus to human population because of interrupted feeding. Such catholic behavior suggests that Ae. albopictus may act as a bridge vector for zoonotic viruses. Further epidemiological implications of this issue are discussed.

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Detection of a chikungunya outbreak in Central Italy, August to September 2017

Giulietta Venturi, Marco Di Luca, Claudia Fortuna … (2017)

An autochthonous chikungunya outbreak is ongoing near Anzio, a coastal town in the province of Rome. The virus isolated from one patient and mosquitoes lacks the A226V mutation and belongs to an East Central South African strain. As of 20 September, 86 cases are laboratory-confirmed. The outbreak proximity to the capital, its late summer occurrence, and diagnostic delays, are favouring transmission. Vector control, enhanced surveillance and restricted blood donations are being implemented in affected areas.

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Integrated Aedes management for the control of Aedes -borne diseases

David Roiz, Anne Wilson, Thomas W. Scott … (2018)

Background Diseases caused by Aedes-borne viruses, such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever, are emerging and reemerging globally. The causes are multifactorial and include global trade, international travel, urbanisation, water storage practices, lack of resources for intervention, and an inadequate evidence base for the public health impact of Aedes control tools. National authorities need comprehensive evidence-based guidance on how and when to implement Aedes control measures tailored to local entomological and epidemiological conditions. Methods and findings This review is one of a series being conducted by the Worldwide Insecticide resistance Network (WIN). It describes a framework for implementing Integrated Aedes Management (IAM) to improve control of diseases caused by Aedes-borne viruses based on available evidence. IAM consists of a portfolio of operational actions and priorities for the control of Aedes-borne viruses that are tailored to different epidemiological and entomological risk scenarios. The framework has 4 activity pillars: (i) integrated vector and disease surveillance, (ii) vector control, (iii) community mobilisation, and (iv) intra- and intersectoral collaboration as well as 4 supporting activities: (i) capacity building, (ii) research, (iii) advocacy, and (iv) policies and laws. Conclusions IAM supports implementation of the World Health Organisation Global Vector Control Response (WHO GVCR) and provides a comprehensive framework for health authorities to devise and deliver sustainable, effective, integrated, community-based, locally adapted vector control strategies in order to reduce the burden of Aedes-transmitted arboviruses. The success of IAM requires strong commitment and leadership from governments to maintain proactive disease prevention programs and preparedness for rapid responses to outbreaks.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Int J Environ Res Public Health

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Int J Environ Res Public Health

Journal ID (publisher-id): ijerph

Title: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Publisher: MDPI

ISSN (Print): 1661-7827

ISSN (Electronic): 1660-4601

Publication date (Electronic): 27 October 2020

Publication date (Print): November 2020

Volume: 17

Issue: 21

Electronic Location Identifier: 7872

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Public Health & Infectious Diseases, Laboratory affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia—Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; beniamino.caputo@ 123456uniroma1.it (B.C.); mattia.manica@ 123456protonmail.ch (M.M.); pietrocobre@ 123456gmail.com (P.C.); carlooo92@ 123456gmail.com (C.M.D.M.)

[2 ]Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy; luca.delucchi@ 123456fmach.it

[3 ]Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), via Vitaliano Brancati 48, 00144 Roma, Italy; federico.filipponi@ 123456gmail.com

[4 ]MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, UK; m.blangiardo@ 123456imperial.ac.uk

[5 ]Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy; dr.l.iesu@ 123456gmail.com (L.I.); valeria.petrella@ 123456unina.it (V.P.); marco.salvemini@ 123456unina.it (M.S.)

[6 ]GH s.r.l., via Petralia Sottana, 11, 00132 Rome, Italy; paolamorano72@ 123456gmail.com (P.M.); cesare@ 123456cesarebianchi.com (C.B.)

Author notes

[* ]Correspondence: alessandra.dellatorre@ 123456uniroma1.it

[†]

These two authors contributed equally.

Author information

Mattia Manica https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3709-1199

Federico Filipponi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1419-3734

Luca Delucchi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0493-3516

Article

Publisher ID: ijerph-17-07872

DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17217872

PMC ID: 7672598

PubMed ID: 33121060

SO-VID: eb217156-119e-4de0-be3a-5852fa5f0d84

License:

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

ZanzaMapp: A Scalable Citizen Science Tool to Monitor Perception of Mosquito Abundance and Nuisance in Italy and Beyond

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Most cited references 36

Blood-feeding behavior of Aedes albopictus, a vector of Chikungunya on La Réunion.

Detection of a chikungunya outbreak in Central Italy, August to September 2017

Integrated Aedes management for the control of Aedes -borne diseases

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