Fighting Malaria with Drones

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hovering above the landscape in Africa are a small fleet
of drones. Their mission seek out the places where mosquitoes
lay their eggs. It's all in an effort to wipe
out malaria. I'm Jonathan Strickland, and this is tech stuff. Daily,
drones get a lot of bad press. It's understandable because

(00:25):
there's a lot of potential to misuse the technology, either
by accident or on purpose. There are stories of people
flying drones where they shouldn't, such as near airports or
over crowds of people. There are news items about privacy
concerns and people using drones to spy on neighbors. And
of course there are the stories of weaponized drones that
can be operated from hundreds of miles away to fire

(00:47):
upon targets that may or may not actually be the enemy.
But there are some great stories out there about people
using drones to benefit humanity. This is one of those.
Andy Hardy wrote a piece for fizz org that the details.
Hardy and his colleagues have started using drones and Zanzibar
to help local officials identify mosquito breeding grounds. Mosquitoes can

(01:08):
carry malaria and transmit it to humans. The actual carrier
is a parasite. The parasites enters the mosquito and then
can transfer to a human host when the adult mosquito
feeds on a person. Malaria is a serious disease. Initial
symptoms can include fever, chills, and other flu like symptoms.
The real danger is that malaria can develop serious and

(01:30):
even deadly complications. In there were an estimated two hundred
twelve million cases of malaria according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. More than four hundred twenty nine
thousand people died from malaria. Most of those were children.
In Africa, modern techniques like mosquito nets and insecticides have
helped reduce infection rates dramatically over the last few years.

(01:53):
According to Hardy, some areas of Zanzibar have seen prevalence
rates drop from down to one percent due to these initiatives,
but not all areas can benefit from these approaches, and
Hardy thinks drones can help reduce malaria infection rates even more.
The drones wouldn't be going on some sort of mosquito
zapping rampage, though that would be cool. Instead, a human

(02:15):
operator would fly the drone over a region in an
effort to identified bodies of water that could be prime
mosquito breeding grounds. These are typically still bodies, such as
a roadside culvert or rice paddies. Some of these may
be well known to locals, but Africa is a big
place and it's not exactly easy to survey on foot.
The team plans on using drones to map out regions

(02:38):
and seek out these bodies of water during mosquito breeding seasons.
They can deploy drones near malaria hotspots as they pop
up and locate targets. Then locals can travel to those
locations and use larva sides to treat the water, killing
the larvae before they have a chance to mature to
full grown mosquitoes. According to Hardy, the process is quick
and efficient. It takes about twenty minutes for an operator

(03:00):
to use a drone to conduct a survey of a
thirty hectare rice patty that's equivalent to about seventy four
acres of land. The larva sides will be low toxicity
chemicals to reduce the chance of ecological damage or human harm.
That's a big change from a few decades ago, when
dangerous chemicals like DDT were the ones we'd rely upon.
The team is also aware of the potential problems of drones.

(03:21):
One of those is getting locals to trust the technology.
Hardy says an effective approach is to invite people to
watch as an operator pilots of drone over an area.
People can witness the drone launching, look at monitors showing
a live camera feed from the drone as it moves
over the area, and view the drone as it returns
and lands. The team also plans to educate people about

(03:42):
privacy concerns and responsible methods of drone operation to head
off any potential misuse before it can happen. That includes
learning how to avoid situations that could lead to collisions
with other aircraft or actions that might harm local wildlife.
The team also wants to develop apps that can coordinate
between surveyors and teams deploying larva side to bodies of water.

(04:02):
As each team makes progress, they can update the app
and coordinate their efforts. This will make the entire approach
more effective and efficient. Ultimately, that should translate into an
affordable approach that can reduce malaria infection rates in areas
that are otherwise in danger. Drones aren't the only technology
people hope to use in the fight against mosquito born infections.
There are some research firms working with genetically modified mosquitoes

(04:25):
in an effort to reduce or wipe out diseases like
the Zyca virus. In this approach, scientists create modified mosquito
DNA and injected into eggs containing what will become a
male mosquito. Male mosquitoes don't bite humans, but what they
will do is seek out mates. When these lab altered
mosquitoes mate with wild female mosquitoes, they produce eggs that

(04:47):
have some of this altered DNA, which will prevent those
eggs from ever developing into adult mosquitoes. Over time, this
could lead to a big drop of mosquito populations, reducing
the prevalence of illnesses as a byproduct. In the future,
will likely use a suite of strategies to fight off
mosquitoes and prevent or cure the illnesses they transmit. That's
some news that you might find soothing, particularly if mosquitoes

(05:10):
find you to be delicious. That's all for today. To
learn more about how technology can help us prevent disease,
boost our abilities, or just let us play a video game,
subscribe to the Tech Stuff Podcast. It's a long form
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