‘Shazam For Mosquitoes’: Phone App Tells Zika-Carrier Apart From West-Nile Carrier
The technology uses wing beats to identify mosquito varieties.
The New York Times:
Telling Mosquitoes Apart With A Cellphone
Simple cellphones can tell one type of mosquito from another by their hums, which may be useful in fighting mosquito-borne diseases, according to new research from Stanford University. Calling their project “Shazam for Mosquitoes,” after the phone app that identifies music, students from the university’s Bio-X institute showed that common cellphones could record mosquito wing beats accurately enough to distinguish, for example, Culex mosquitoes, which spread West Nile virus, from Aedes mosquitoes, which spread Zika. (McNeil, 11/21)
In other Zika news —
The Mercury News:
California Public Health Officials Say Travel To Mexico, Latin America, Comes With Risk Of Zika Virus
If you’re heading down to Mexico for the holidays, California public health officials are warning travelers to protect themselves from mosquito bites in areas with known transmission of the Zika virus. State public health officer Dr. Karen Smith said many areas of Mexico are afflicted with the virus, particularly popular tourist destinations such as Cancun, Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Ixtapa, and Mazatlan. (Seipel, 11/21)