Avaliação da viabilidade tecnológiva do sitema AETRAPP.ORG aplicado ao monitoramento de AEDES AEGYPTI utilizando ovitrampas e sistema integrado de contagem por visão compatacional

Abstract

The Aedes aegypti mosquito has had serious impacts on health systems globally. Brazil was one of the most impacted countries and has been plagued by vector-borne diseases such as Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya. Among the central strategies for combating populations and mosquito infestations is monitoring by ovitraps, which are environments that facilitate oviposition. The Aetrapp.org project emerged in 2015 as a technological proposal combined with concepts of environmental engagement and citizen science, promoting the application of low-cost ovitraps. It culminated in the development of a computer system for the automatic counting of mosquito eggs, using smartphones on an Android system, in addition to compiling other digital technologies to enhance citizen monitoring. This research aimed to carry out comparative experiments on the Recife Campus of the Pernambuco Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology (IFPE), on the Regional Center for Nuclear Sciences of the Northeast (CRCN) and on the Pernambuco Institute of Technology (ITEP), with support from the Environmental Surveillance Center of Recife City Hall, aiming to analyze the effectiveness, attractiveness and positivity of alpha ovitraps, in relation to traditional ovitraps. The technological feasibility, its potential and the impact of using an Aedes mosquito monitoring system, inspired by strategies for the use of accessible and easily replicable tools, were also evaluated. This assessment was made by comparing the level of technological maturity of traditional ovitrap approaches versus a prototype suitable for using the Aetrapp.org platform. In the comparative study, carried out with the support of IFPE researchers and scientific initiation students, it was concluded that the technological solution can benefit from updates, or adaptations to systems at more robust levels of development, with the need for greater efforts in the infrastructure , in the computer vision strategy and in the logistics of monitoring insects that transmit disease-causing viruses in humans.