University of Arizona to host ‘mosquito hunt’ to pinpoint virus

PHOENIX — In an effort to gain more knowledge about a rare type of mosquito that has recently brought in several viruses to the state, University of Arizona and the Arizona Department of Health Services have created a mosquito hunt to get school-aged children involved in the effort.

The 2015 Great Mosquito Hunt will work with high schools across the state to collect information on the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is known to spread viruses such as dengue and chikungunya.

Students will learn about emerging mosquito-borne diseases and mosquito biology by providing data from mosquito eggs to statewide public health partners to determine the presence of Ae. aegypti in their area.

The organization will turn the results into a map that will be used to direct public health efforts to protect Arizonans from mosquito-borne diseases, according to the website.

Jessica Rigler with the Bureau of Epidemiology and Disease Control at the Arizona Department of Health Services said the hunt is a great way to get students involved in a helpful cause.

“This is an opportunity for the Arizona Department of Health Services, and some of our public partners in the state, to work with high schools around Arizona to help us conduct mosquito surveillance,” she said.

Rigler said she hopes this data can help pinpoint the location of the mosquito to help inform the public of its whereabouts and the harm it can cause.

“We don’t have (a) great idea of where a particular kind of mosquito, the Ae. aegypti mosquito, lives in Arizona,” she said. “So getting schools all over the state to help collect mosquito eggs will up identify where specifically this mosquito is living.”

Participating schools will use one or more traps at their school — to catch mosquito eggs, which do not transmit disease — and mail the results to the University of Arizona.

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