Scientist in Brazil have come up with a low cost tool that could effectively and rapidly identify and target mosquitoes infected with the dangerous Zika virus. The study, published in the journal Science Advances, found Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) was 18 times faster and 110 times cheaper than the current detection method.
Dr Maggy Sikulu-Lord, a University of Queensland researcher, together with his colleagues in Brazil developed the tool.
"We can now quickly identify mosquitoes that are infected with the Zika virus, so public health authorities can treat affected areas before the disease spreads to humans," Maggy said.
The new tool, touted as 18 times faster and 110 times cheaper than the current detection method, only involves shining a beam of light onto mosquitoes and using that information to determine if the mosquito is infected, Sikulu-Lord said.
He explained that the technology had the potential to detect a number of diseases too, noting that “we have so far achieved a 94 to 99 per cent accuracy rate in identifying infected mosquitoes under laboratory conditions in Brazil.
“We hope to have results for detecting dengue and malaria in mosquitoes in the next few months.
“We don’t think it will eradicate diseases but it will give us the ability to detect diseases quickly so that we can stop disease outbreaks.”
Zika fever (also known as Zika virus disease)is an illness caused by the Zika virus. Most cases have no symptoms, but when present they are usually mild and resemble dengue fever. Symptoms may include fever, red eyes, joint pain, headache, and a maculopapular rash.
It is spread mostly by mosquiteos. A pregnant mother can pass it to her baby during pregnancy or around the time of birth.
Zika causes microcephaly (a serious birth defect of the brain) and other problems in babies whose mothers were infected while pregnant.
