Drones can be a means in the fight against epidemics, such as Zika. Image source: Shutterstock (#568596037).
WeRobotics is planning to fight mosquito-borne viruses such as Zika with drones. First breeding sterile mosquitoes in captivity, the insects are then transported to problem areas with the drones, where they are dropped to outnumber the wild males. This has the potential to reduce mosquito populations by up to 90 percent.
“The main goal is vector control to eliminate infectious disease,” Adam Klaptocz, co-founder of WeRobotics, said. “Suppressing mosquito population can be done with fumigation or insecticide, but both these techniques are damaging to the environment, and insects are developing immunity to this.
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