TAMPA, Fla. — As part of the battle against malaria, a global mosquito dashboard set up right here in the Tampa Bay area to help in the fight now has Sarasota on that map.
This comes as mosquito control officials continue working to find mosquitoes that could be carrying the parasite.
MosquitoDashboard.org based at the University of South Florida is an interactive online mapping system that integrates data and photos sent in through several apps used for citizens' science campaigns.
The apps include iNaturalist, the Mosquito Habitat Mapper part of NASA's global observer app and Mosquito Alert.
The Global Mosquito Observations Dashboard was created in 2021 by USF researchers Dr. Ryan Carney, an assistant professor of integrative biology and digital science, and colleague Dr. Sriram Chellappan, a professor of computer science and engineering.
"Mosquitoes are the deadliest animal on the planet. You can think of them as little flying hypodermic needles of disease and so we are asking citizen scientists to help us find those malaria-spreading needles in the Florida haystack," said Carney.
The dashboard aggregates information from citizens and uses artificial intelligence to analyze them.
USF researchers would then use that information to track the movement, presence and introduction of potentially deadly mosquitoes, especially the invasive types.
The information also helps scientists learn what species of mosquitoes are where and improves local mosquito surveillance and control activity.
"So this is data and images of mosquitoes, whether it's adult mosquitoes, larval mosquitoes, or even mosquito habitats, and use that information to help us fight mosquito-borne diseases," Carney said.