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The overall objective of IPMDC's Phase I proposal is to adapt modern light sensing technology with developed observational monitoring software to enable real-time, in-field species identification of common disease vectors, such as adult Culex pipiens and Aedes albopictus, vectors of West Nile Virus and La Crosse Encephalitis respectively. IPMDC has called this innovative technology-based solution the Automated Vector Identification Detector (AVID). Recent field experiments using an automated optical flying insect detection and identification system (OFIDIS) promise a new mosquito monitoring system that is faster, simpler, more rugged, and probably more accurate that existing technology.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Active surveillance and timely mosquito control measures offer the best hope for disease management and control in the future. Emergence of vector borne diseases, and recent outbreaks, suggest a high probability of future epidemics caused by previously unknown pathogens or new manifestations of known agents. The West Nile Virus outbreak in North America demonstrates how a known pathogen can suddenly appear on the other side of the world, and how rapidly a pathogen can expand geographically and persist in newly established zoonoses. Prevention rests on elimination of mosquito breeding sites; judicious use of insecticides; and avoidance of mosquito bites, including use of mosquito repellents. IPM Development Company is developing an Automated Vector Insect Detector (AVID), an innovative novel technology that will successfully address the difficulty of providing accurate real-time vector activity data to small rural communities lacking public infrastructure. Phase I research will produce a labor-saving automated insect pest-monitoring system using a newly available electronic photo-sensor and computer-analysis software that quantifies mosquito wing-beat signatures.
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APPROACH: AVID counts and identifies individual flying mosquitoes. It consists of three components: a light source, photosensor and a datalogger or central processor. AVID will integrate light source, photosensor and components for remote data recording into a single unit together with connection hardware that would facilitate both transfer of stored data to, or on-time data collection by, a laptop computer. This integrated unit will be designed to be compact, ruggedized and light-weight. When a mosquito flies between the light source and a proprietary photosensor, a wingbeat waveform is recorded by a datalogger or transmitted directly to a central processor. Features extracted from the digitized wingbeat waveform are then used as species-specific signatures for vector mosquitoes. Individual insects arriving or departing an attractant source are automatically identified by comparing their wingbeat waveforms with a library of signatures using a statistical classifier or an artificial neural network.