Drone Warfare against Mosquitoes

Group: Nauman Afridi, Michael Benison, and Jenai Booker

12/13/2013

Source: www.xheli.com

Uses and Benefits of Drones

❏Remote Controlled Drones ❏Cheaper to build and operate ❏Controlled completely by humans

❏Smart Drones ❏Only a few humans are necessary to operate it ❏Could be more effective in locating breeding grounds

❏Pre-programmed ❏Easy to operate ❏Stable, routine action

Dengue Virus

❏ Dengue hemorrhagic fever is caused by the bite of striped Aedes aegypti mosquitoe

❏ Causes Severe Flu like illness with Headache, fever ,joint pain and if untreated causes death.

Dengue Outbreak in Punjab Province Pakistan

❏ First case was detected in 1994❏ Severe dengue epidemic in 2011 in the

Punjab Province❏ Since then 300 people killed, 16000

infected❏ Cost of Treatment is US $1000 ❏ Cities of Lahore and Rawalpindi were

the most affected

Preventive Actions by the Government

Spraying of insecticides by hand held and vehicle mounted spraying machines

Dengue Spraying Machines

Preventive Measures ( Contd…)

Killing mosquito larvae in open waters:

❏ introducing fish❏ using chemicals

Costs To the Government in the city of Rawalpindi

Activity Cost US $

Insecticides 20,000

Equipment etc 20,000

Patient Treatment Cost (Approx 300 patients in 2013) 300,000

Staff training 5,000

Awareness Campaign 5,000

Misc 10,000

Total 360,000

Proposal

❏ Introduce a drone pilot project in the city of Rawalpindi.

❏ Cost of drones varies from US $20,000 to US $ 80,000

❏ Florida Keys Mosquito Control district is testing drones to detect mosquito larvae sites and kill them.

Advantages❏ Reduced cost due to:

❏ Effective control of breeding sites

❏ No training of ground staff

❏ Lesser awareness campaigns

❏ Lesser burden on government officials

❏ Live monitoring by health officials

❏ Easy maneuverability and reaching inaccessible areas.