Drones for Mosquito Control
What's all the buzz!
If you're lucky, you might have heard that little buzz before the blood-thirsty pest landed and took a little piece of you forever. They probably left a bump that will drive you nuts for a few days, or worse - a dose of zika or dengue fever. As our planet continues to warm and human activity increases, mosquitoes are on the rise. But so are the spraying drones that control them!
People who live in sunny areas are quite familiar with the hum of a helicopter after a heavy rain - coming to spray larvicide aimed at killing mosquitoes. This method is ideal for large coverage areas that are relatively safe and easy to get to. However, mosquitoes are less discerning leaving their eggs equally in small bodies of water or hard-to-reach areas. This leaves counties, contractors and the likes to treat those areas in a laborious manual method. And guess where the last place is people want to tromp around... you guessed it! Disney-for-mosquitoes!
In the fight against mosquitoes, drones are becoming an important tool. Leading the way in Florida (a favorite destination for people and mosquitoes) are Collier County and the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District. Both agencies are using drones both to identify hotbeds of larvae and treat them. Similar to farmers using drones to spray weeds, vector control agencies are taking advantage of the GPS-precision, low cost and 'go-anywhere' perks that only drones can offer.
Many researchers are also studying how drones can be used for mosquito control; their initial findings look as exciting as the thought of enjoying a Florida sunset, without that buzz!
Stay tuned to learn more as this exciting technology transforms the world... we call it "drones for good"!
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