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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
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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
Preventive Measures ( Contd…) Killing mosquito larvae in open waters: • introducing fish • using chemicals
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.