The Aedes aegypti mosquito spreads dengue fever, chickungunya, Mayaro, yellow fever, and Zika. Spraying at dusk and dawn, when the mosquito is most active, isn't an option because other beneficial insect populations would be adversely affected. Because of this, the best way to fight the species is by destroying or removing its breeding sites. For this reason, we want to educate the public about this mosquito and how they can help its population be controlled.
The challenge is to create a fun, short, interactive education game suitable for installation on county library computers, to teach the public about mosquito control and safety. The game will be designed for a wide audience, many with limited computer experience. The game will include simple in-game instructions and utilize point-and-click mechanics (Ex. Candy Crush or Fruit Ninja). The game will be designed for a windows PC with an attached mouse. Eventually the for mobile devises.
Florida Resident's Guide to Mosquito Control
Mosquito Breeding Sites Around the House (pdf)
Mosquito Control is required to follow-up on every request for assistance. It can take up to three days after the initial call for someone from Mosquito Control to be on-site. This leaves a lot of time before their visit for residents to take action and become more informed.
The challenge is to provide a means for property owners to self-diagnose and respond to potential mosquito breeding sites on or near their property. It could be a checklist, guide, or even a computer game. An interactive process between residents and Mosquito Control personnel is needed to determine if a follow-up inspection is needed and would also enable tracking success. Some enhancements to the app could be recording time and place of mosquito problems and response outcomes in a digital journal for the resident with the option of sharing data with the county.
This resource will educate the resident, and encourage productive dialogue between resident and Mosquito Control regarding mosquito control and prevention. This could include instructive and informative photographs and videos on: reducing exposure to arbovirus’ during mosquito swarm, removing mosquito larvae reservoirs, and even informing the resident that fish are available for free that can be placed in reservoirs that cannot removed.
Florida Resident's Guide to Mosquito Control
Mosquito Breeding Sites Around the House (pdf)
The county is divided into spray zones that the sprayer trucks must cover efficiently. The purpose of this challenge is to produce turn-by-turn instructions through spray zones that cover all roads with the least amount of retracing taking into account wind direction and construction. The app could take the form of a static algorithm that can be ran in advance. Our stretch goal would be a real-time app that allows trucks to alter course mid-route.
Mosquito Control routinely sends personnel to predefined zones to apply mosquito treatment. Currently, these zones are selected by a senior individual with knowledge of Mosquito Control best practices. An objective method to choose which zones to treat each day is needed to allocate limited resources and efficiently protect public health.
The challenge is to provide a prescriptive analytics computer application that produces a list of a user specified number of zones for daily treatment, taking into account the current methods for treatment practiced by Mosquito Control. A minimum requirement is to include mosquito baseline data and demographic proximity to mosquito density centers. Possible enhancements include options to handle “neglected zones,” and to improve/suggest trap locations by indicating areas with greatest uncertainty.