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ZanzaMapp: A Scalable Citizen Science Tool to Monitor Perception of Mosquito Abundance and Nuisance in Italy and Beyond

Author

Listed:
  • Beniamino Caputo

    (Department of Public Health & Infectious Diseases, Laboratory affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia—Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
    These two authors contributed equally.)

  • Mattia Manica

    (Department of Public Health & Infectious Diseases, Laboratory affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia—Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
    Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy
    These two authors contributed equally.)

  • Federico Filipponi

    (Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), via Vitaliano Brancati 48, 00144 Roma, Italy)

  • Marta Blangiardo

    (MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, UK)

  • Pietro Cobre

    (Department of Public Health & Infectious Diseases, Laboratory affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia—Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Luca Delucchi

    (Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy)

  • Carlo Maria De Marco

    (Department of Public Health & Infectious Diseases, Laboratory affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia—Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Luca Iesu

    (Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy)

  • Paola Morano

    (GH s.r.l., via Petralia Sottana, 11, 00132 Rome, Italy)

  • Valeria Petrella

    (Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy)

  • Marco Salvemini

    (Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy)

  • Cesare Bianchi

    (GH s.r.l., via Petralia Sottana, 11, 00132 Rome, Italy)

  • Alessandra della Torre

    (Department of Public Health & Infectious Diseases, Laboratory affiliated to Istituto Pasteur Italia—Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

Mosquitoes represent a considerable nuisance and are actual/potential vectors of human diseases in Europe. Costly and labour-intensive entomological monitoring is needed to correct planning of interventions aimed at reducing nuisance and the risk of pathogen transmission. The widespread availability of mobile phones and of massive Internet connections opens the way to the contribution of citizen in complementing entomological monitoring. ZanzaMapp is the first mobile “mosquito” application for smartphones specifically designed to assess citizens’ perception of mosquito abundance and nuisance in Italy. Differently from other applications targeting mosquitoes, ZanzaMapp prioritizes the number of records over their scientific authentication by requesting users to answer four simple questions on perceived mosquito presence/abundance/nuisance and geo-localizing the records. The paper analyses 36,867 ZanzaMapp records sent by 13,669 devices from 2016 to 2018 and discusses the results with reference to either citizens’ exploitation and appreciation of the app and to the consistency of the results obtained with the known biology of main mosquito species in Italy. In addition, we provide a first small-scale validation of ZanzaMapp data as predictors of Aedes albopictus biting females and examples of spatial analyses and maps which could be exploited by public institutions and administrations involved in mosquito and mosquito-borne pathogen monitoring and control.

Suggested Citation

  • Beniamino Caputo & Mattia Manica & Federico Filipponi & Marta Blangiardo & Pietro Cobre & Luca Delucchi & Carlo Maria De Marco & Luca Iesu & Paola Morano & Valeria Petrella & Marco Salvemini & Cesare , 2020. "ZanzaMapp: A Scalable Citizen Science Tool to Monitor Perception of Mosquito Abundance and Nuisance in Italy and Beyond," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-19, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:21:p:7872-:d:435480
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Annelise Tran & Grégory L'Ambert & Guillaume Lacour & Romain Benoît & Marie Demarchi & Myriam Cros & Priscilla Cailly & Mélaine Aubry-Kientz & Thomas Balenghien & Pauline Ezanno, 2013. "A Rainfall- and Temperature-Driven Abundance Model for Aedes albopictus Populations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-22, April.
    2. Corey T Callaghan & Jodi J L Rowley & William K Cornwell & Alistair G B Poore & Richard E Major, 2019. "Improving big citizen science data: Moving beyond haphazard sampling," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(6), pages 1-11, June.
    3. Giovanni Marini & Piero Poletti & Mario Giacobini & Andrea Pugliese & Stefano Merler & Roberto Rosà, 2016. "The Role of Climatic and Density Dependent Factors in Shaping Mosquito Population Dynamics: The Case of Culex pipiens in Northwestern Italy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-15, April.
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    1. Sandra Moutinho & Jorge Rocha & Alberto Gomes & Bernardo Gomes & Ana Isabel Ribeiro, 2022. "Spatial Analysis of Mosquito-Borne Diseases in Europe: A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-20, July.

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