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Mosquitoes have been bothering us all summer. And now that it seemed that its cycle had ended and that we had already said goodbye until next year, va y Sanidad confirms the first two cases of dengue fever contracted in Spain.
The cases could be three, because there is another person (who by the way is from the same family) who presents the symptoms and who was in contact with the other two in Cadiz. It was during the period in which they most likely contracted the infectionBut, what is dengue and how could it have been infected in our country?
People who have already been diagnosed with the disease did not travel to any tropical risk country. They contracted dengue here and under the magnifying glass of all this investigation is an animal. Specifically an insect: the tiger mosquito. The National Center for Microbiology of the Carlos III He alth Institute confirmed the cases and the Ministry of He alth explained that this is a disease that is transmitted by the flavivirus virus, through the bites of infected mosquitoes , not person to person.
Identifying a tiger mosquito is relatively easy. They have an appearance that makes them very characteristic, but the truth is that sometimes it can be somewhat difficult for us to identify the species Although it is unlikely that all bites cause dengue , avoiding the bite of a tiger mosquito is always convenient.Here are a few applications that you may find very useful.
Mosquito Alert
The first thing you have to do is forget about all those applications that promise to keep mosquitoes away from you. None is good for anything, other than to download to your phone. The application that we now want to recommend is called Mosquito Alert and is based on citizen science. But how does it really work?
Actually Mosquito Alert is a platform that wants to unite citizens and scientists to fight against mosquitoes that transmit diseases. The first thing we must tell you is that this is a completely reliable application: it is coordinated by CREAF and CEAB-CSIC
As soon as you start the application, you will have to give it permission to access your location and the images and contents of your device.What you will have to do as a user is send reports every time you see a tiger mosquito or locate a breeding place. In each new alert, you will have to answer some questions: What is your mosquito like? or where did you find it? You can also include a photo and any comment you consider relevant. You will also have to answer several questions if you find a breeding place.
Another option that this application gives us is to check on the map when the latest alerts have occurred. In this way, you will be able to quickly know if there are too many mosquitoes near the place where you are. If you are going to upload photos, make sure that the mosquito looks good, that it is not squashed and that the colors and bands on the thorax can be seen correctly, since these are the details that serve to identify it.
You can download Mosquito Alert for iOS and Android
iNaturalist
We could say that it is the Shazam of insects, or rather, of nature. Because in addition to identifying insects, iNaturalist allows you to name all those species, be they insects, birds, flowers or plants that you don't know. And this will be great for you, both to identify the tiger mosquito, and to hunt any other species that could be dangerous. Either because transmits diseases or because it can really hurt you with its sting or bite.
But let's first look at a couple of important reasons why this app is totally legit: It was developed by the California Academy of Sciences and National Geographic. The first thing you will have to do is allow the system to access your location to check which species have been sighted nearbyThis way you will know if there are dangerous insects near you.
You will be able to see the position in which the species has been located and you will have the opportunity to get to know its characteristics in depth, see photos and find out if the animal poses any kind of danger.iNaturalist is, on the other hand, a very interesting application to stay in touch with the community.
From its tabs you will be able to access a vast number of observers. You will be able to take a look at their contributions and be aware of which are the species that have been most and best identified and that are also close to you. The app is available for iOS and Android.
Agrobase
Agrobase is a developing application, but it works quite well. It is a very useful tool for farmers and people dedicated to field work.What you have to do, in addition to downloading the application, is download the catalog of images for your region Select Spain and wait a few seconds (don't forget to connect to a network Wifi).
From there, you can make all inquiries, both about dangerous mosquitoes and about other insects that transmit diseases and/or pests. By clicking on each of these animals, you will access a file with information about the species. You'll also get facts about what kinds of products may work best for getting rid of annoying pests or insects.
From here you will have the opportunity to check the range of effectiveness of each of these products. This will help you to know what can work best to eradicate any of these pests from your crops, fields or orchard.
This application is available for Android and iOS.
Finally, we remind you that…
The tiger mosquito lives among us, so the best we can do is keep it as far away as possible. To do this, it is important to keep balconies and terraces clean, avoid stagnant water and dirt where mosquitoes can settle.
In addition, it is advisable to be prepared with mosquito repellents. The World He alth Organization (WHO) recommends repellents containing diethyltoluamide (DEET) as it is the most effective.
In terms of technology, we advise you not to download any application that promises to repel mosquitoes,because its effectiveness is directly null. These apps often contain adware and in some cases may even include viruses or malware.
