Preventing outbreaks of Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika in Spain

Frederic Bartumeus Ferré

Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes. Consell Superior d’Investigacions Científiques (CEAB-CSIC), Spain

Some of the world’s most threatening diseases are transmitted by mosquitoes. These include dengue, yellow fever, zika and chikungunya, all transmitted by the tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) and by Aedes aegypti. These viral diseases impose enormous economic and health burdens.

The expansion of the tiger mosquito in the Iberian Peninsula. The recent appearance of Aedes aegypti in the Canary Islands. The increasing spread of viruses caused by people moving between countries. Globalization. All of this generates a situation of risk that poses new challenges for public health. Faced with this threat, the project proposes a new way of undertaking epidemiology. A new approach that combines citizen participation, epidemiological and environmental data to create mathematical models that estimate, in real time, the areas of greatest risk of transmission of these diseases. In other words, models capable of detecting where a local outbreak could originate in Spain.

An open innovation project that will be able to transform Big Data into useful information that anticipates responses at the public health level. In short, a new way of managing and analyzing information through new technologies will be crucial to organize effective responses to possible outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases.

• John R.B. Palmer, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain

• Emilio Zagheni, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Germany

• Diana Gómez Barroso, National Center of Epidemiology (CNE), Spain

• Roger Eritja, Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry, Spain

Community-driven big data intelligence to fight mosquito-borne disease

€999,920