New tool identifies mosquito species in battle against Zika virus

The new tool from The University of Texas at Austin can also determine whether the insect has come into contact with Wolbachia, a type of bacteria that keeps mosquitoes from spreading diseases.

The tool uses a smartphone camera, a small 3D-printed box and a simple chemical test to show whether a dead mosquito belongs to the Aedes aegypti species, which also carry dengue, chikungunya or yellow fever. As well as afflicting around 100 million people worldwide each year, the species also is closely linked to the tripling of cases of mosquito-borne diseases in the United States since 2004.

"Many of these diseases are spreading in areas where they weren't common before," said Sanchita Bhadra, a research associate in the Department of Molecular Biosciences and first author on the paper. "Having surveillance is important in conjunction with any kind of outbreak, and this method allows a rapid test in the field."

The research appears in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.