
Maggy Lord via UQ
A cheap and effective tool that could save lives by helping health authorities target mosquitos infected with Zika virus has been developed by researchers from the University of Queensland and colleagues in Brazil.
Dr Maggy Sikulu-Lord and Dr Jill Fernandes, at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, found Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) was 18-times faster and 110-times cheaper than the current detection method.
“We can quickly identify mosquitoes that are infected with Zika virus so public health authorities can treat affected areas before disease spreads to humans,” Dr Sikulu-Lord said.
“This is definitely going to be a game-changer in disease surveillance, especially in the prediction of disease outbreaks.
“It only involves shining a beam of light onto mosquitoes and using that information to determine if the mosquito is infected.”
Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that can cause abnormalities in unborn babies and is linked to the rare paralysing condition called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS).
Dr Sikulu-Lord hopes the World Health Organisation will use NIRS in countries where Zika is endemic.
“We hope public health authorities can use it to predict future disease outbreaks and save lives by treating mosquito populations in time.”
She said the technology had potential to detect a number of diseases.
“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.”
So far, NIRS technology has been shown to have a 94 to 99 per cent accuracy rate in identifying infected mosquitoes under laboratory conditions in Brazil.
The team, which includes researchers Dr Rafael de Freitas and his team (Fiocrus, Rio de Janeiro) Dr John Beier (University of Miami) and Dr Floyd Dowell (USDA), is testing the accuracy of the technique under field conditions in Rio de Janeiro.
Learn more: UQ Zika detection breakthrough a potential lifesaver
The Latest on: Disease surveillance
via Google News
The Latest on: Disease surveillance
- New vaccine, enhanced surveillance needed to combat childhood pneumoniaon February 24, 2021 at 11:31 pm
A rise in vaccine-resistant bacteria shows the need for a new vaccine to fight childhood empyema after a spike in hospitalisations, a new UNSW study reveals.
- Maryland partners with hospitals to boost surveillance of COVID-19 variantson February 23, 2021 at 12:49 pm
WBAL NewsRadio 1090/FM 101.5 - The governor also talked about progress in building out the state's vaccination infrastructure.
- Advances in the selection of patients with prostate cancer for active surveillanceon February 23, 2021 at 11:46 am
Accurate selection of patients with low-risk prostate cancer for active surveillance relies upon conventional clinical staging and grading criteria. New approaches in imaging as well as novel serum-, ...
- The importance of adequate health surveillance for children with Down syndromeon February 23, 2021 at 10:51 am
Researchers at the Department of Paediatrics at Trinity's School of Medicine and Children's Health Ireland (CHI) at Tallaght University Hospital have established a unique 'one-stop' health ...
- NIOH (A Division Of The NHLS) To Roll-out Covid-19 National Occupational Health Surveillance System (OHSS)on February 23, 2021 at 1:01 am
The National Department of Health and Department of Employment and Labour have directed the National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH) to roll-out the Covid-19 National Occupational Health ...
- Nichols on Navigating the Nuances of von Hippel-Lindau Diseaseon February 22, 2021 at 1:29 pm
In our exclusive interview, Dr. Nichols discusses von Hippel-Lindau disease in great detail, how she currently approaches treatment with these patients, and the importance of routine surveillance in ...
- New leptospirosis research calls for stronger vaccination uptake in dry stock farmingon February 22, 2021 at 6:53 am
Researchers from Massey University and the University of Warwick have found that non-dairy stock farmers are just as likely to get infected with leptospirosis as dairy farmers, proving the disease is ...
- COVID-19: Maha Imposes Fresh Curbs, Centre Asks States To Tighten Surveillanceon February 21, 2021 at 7:43 pm
Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 6,281 per day, with a weekly rise in cases by 19% in Mumbai suburban areas.
- Wildlife managers pinpoint a numbers problem with chronic wasting disease testingon February 21, 2021 at 5:41 am
Convincing hunters that a deer can look perfectly healthy but still have CWD is an ongoing challenge when it comes to testing. Typically, infected deer don’t display the classic emaciated, listless ...
via Bing News