Be a 'Zika Mozzie Seeker'

Registration closed and will open again from August 2019

We need your help to search for 'Zika mosquitoes' (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus species - that have the potential to spread viruses such as Zika or dengue).

As part of the 'Zika Mozzie Seeker' project, we're asking the public in our region to set up DIY backyard mosquito egg traps, collect the eggs and send them in for analysis.

The project uses revolutionary screening technology developed by Queensland Health and is a world-first for mosquito monitoring.

We will mass screen the eggs you collect for traces of the DNA of Aedes aegypti  and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. This will allow us to increase our confidence that such mosquitoes are not in our region and detect any invasions of these mosquitoes more easily.

What kind of mozzies are we looking for?

Zika and Dengue are largely spread by two domestic mosquito species (Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus). These 'Zika mosquitoes' are present elsewhere in Queensland but have not been detected in South East Queensland recently. This project will help us search for these mosquitoes (especially Aedes aegypti) to increase confidence and confirm our belief that they are not present in our region of South East Queensland.

'Zika mosquitoes' are domestic species – they live in backyards of houses and businesses and the adults are unlikely to fly more than 500 metres from breeding sites (commonly artificial containers that hold water). These mosquito species are not found in swamps and drains.

Useful links and more mozzie info

Reports

• Embracing Innovation in Government: Global Trends 2019 (Observatory of Public Sector Innovation report featuring Zika Mozzie Seeker)
• Queensland Citizen Science Strategy (featuring Zika Mozzie Seeker)

Research articles

• Rapid Surveillance for Vector Presence (RSVP)

Related projects

Mozzie Monitors (University of South Australia – participants trap mozzies and send photographs of the mozzies to researchers)