Brazilian cities turn to mobile apps in fight against Zika

Various Brazilian cities are turning to mobile apps in the fight against the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which transmits the Zika virus, chikungunya and dengue, a local official said.

"While an app does not replace the government's actions to fight the mosquito, this technology uses public collaboration to create a "map" of (the fight against the mosquito) in the city," Alexandre Padilha, the city's health secretary, told a press conference on Tuesday in Sao Paulo.

The initiative is now being used in over 30 Brazilian cities, which allows the public to learn of potential breeding sites for the mosquito and to mark their locations on the map.

This makes it easier for authorities to eliminate these sites in their ongoing campaigns.

In Sao Paulo, the original idea for the app came late last year in response to the rising cases of dengue. In 2015, Brazil registered 1.6 million cases of dengue, over three times more than in 2014.

However, the danger of dengue has been overtaken in recent months by Zika, which is transmitted by the same mosquito and is thought to be behind a sharp rise in the cases of microcephaly among newborns.

Sao Paulo has been conducting studies to identify areas most likely to contain breeding sites for the mosquito but the app would allow their data to be updated in real time. Endi