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Citizen science provides a reliable and scalable tool to track disease-carrying mosquitoes

Author

Listed:
  • John R. B. Palmer

    (Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC)
    Universitat Pompeu Fabra
    CREAF)

  • Aitana Oltra

    (Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC)
    CREAF)

  • Francisco Collantes

    (Universidad de Murcia)

  • Juan Antonio Delgado

    (Universidad de Murcia)

  • Javier Lucientes

    (Universidad de Zaragoza)

  • Sarah Delacour

    (Universidad de Zaragoza)

  • Mikel Bengoa

    (Universidad de Zaragoza)

  • Roger Eritja

    (CREAF)

  • Frederic Bartumeus

    (Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC)
    CREAF
    ICREA, Institut Catala de Recerca i Estudis Avançats)

Abstract

Recent outbreaks of Zika, chikungunya and dengue highlight the importance of better understanding the spread of disease-carrying mosquitoes across multiple spatio-temporal scales. Traditional surveillance tools are limited by jurisdictional boundaries and cost constraints. Here we show how a scalable citizen science system can solve this problem by combining citizen scientists’ observations with expert validation and correcting for sampling effort. Our system provides accurate early warning information about the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) invasion in Spain, well beyond that available from traditional methods, and vital for public health services. It also provides estimates of tiger mosquito risk comparable to those from traditional methods but more directly related to the human–mosquito encounters that are relevant for epidemiological modelling and scalable enough to cover the entire country. These results illustrate how powerful public participation in science can be and suggest citizen science is positioned to revolutionize mosquito-borne disease surveillance worldwide.

Suggested Citation

  • John R. B. Palmer & Aitana Oltra & Francisco Collantes & Juan Antonio Delgado & Javier Lucientes & Sarah Delacour & Mikel Bengoa & Roger Eritja & Frederic Bartumeus, 2017. "Citizen science provides a reliable and scalable tool to track disease-carrying mosquitoes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-00914-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00914-9
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    Cited by:

    1. Núria Bautista-Puig & Daniela De Filippo & Elba Mauleón & Elías Sanz-Casado, 2019. "Scientific Landscape of Citizen Science Publications: Dynamics, Content and Presence in Social Media," Publications, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-22, February.
    2. Domina Asingizwe & Marilyn Milumbu Murindahabi & Constantianus J.M. Koenraadt & P. Marijn Poortvliet & Arnold J.H. van Vliet & Chantal M. Ingabire & Emmanuel Hakizimana & Leon Mutesa & Willem Takken &, 2019. "Co-Designing a Citizen Science Program for Malaria Control in Rwanda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Nadja Pernat & Jana Zscheischler & Helge Kampen & Emu-Felicitas Ostermann-Miyashita & Jonathan M Jeschke & Doreen Werner, 2022. "How media presence triggers participation in citizen science—The case of the mosquito monitoring project ‘Mückenatlas‘," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(2), pages 1-22, February.

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