Descripción del proyecto
El uso de satélites en la lucha contra el virus del Nilo Occidental
A fin de prevenir las enfermedades de transmisión vectorial (que son un tipo de afección infecciosa en crecimiento), es imprescindible rastrear la presencia de los mosquitos. Por ejemplo, durante el verano de 2018, Europa sufrió la amenaza del virus del Nilo Occidental (VNO) debido a un aumento en las temperaturas seguido por un clima húmedo, unas condiciones en las que es más probable que se produzcan picaduras de mosquito. Para controlar eficazmente estas enfermedades, el proyecto VECTRACK, financiado con fondos europeos, desarrollará técnicas de modelización para la ubicación y detección a distancia, a fin de crear mapas especiales que se puedan emplear en el control y la evaluación de riesgos. Para producir el primer sistema de control vectorial automatizado internacional, el proyecto utilizará el servicio del satélite de observación de la Tierra Sentinel, así como nodos terrestres con sensores optoelectrónicos para contar y clasificar los mosquitos de manera remota y automatizada.
Objetivo
During the summer of 2018, the EU experienced the worst outbreak of West Nile Virus (WNV) in history, with more than 1317 infected and 142 deaths reported. WNV can cause a fatal neurological disease in humans, for which there is no known therapy or vaccine. WNV is just one of the many Vector-Borne Diseases transmitted by mosquitoes (Dengue, Zika, Yellow Fever, Malaria, etc.) threatening Europe due to climate change. VECTRACK addresses this major problem through early detection and prevention of disease outbreaks, the key pillars in preventive control strategy.
Obtaining high quality field information is notoriously costly and time-consuming. To effectively control these disease-vectors, specialized public and private bodies implement laborious and costly surveillance programs, where manual field trap inspections represent 95% of total costs. These costs can be significantly reduced through combining cost-efficient sampling strategies, remote sensing and spatial modelling techniques resulting in risk maps for targeted surveillance and risk assessments.
VECTRACK will provide the first transnational and automated vector surveillance system, a long sought objective of the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). This will be achieved through the development of an Earth Observation (EO) Satellite Sentinel service, including ground nodes with new optoelectronic sensors allowing fully remote and automated counting and classification of the target mosquitoes (sex, species, age and infection potential). VECTRACK will be commercialized as a service to the market segments already serviced by the industry partners, and new international clients. This will be achieved through the development of an innovative business plan, an extensive market demonstration and the implementation of a knowledge management and protection strategy for the exploitation of the technology in Europe and other international markets.
Ámbito científico
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesinfectious diseasesRNA viruses
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologyvirology
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringremote sensing
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyinvertebrate zoology
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
IA - Innovation actionCoordinador
08029 Barcelona
España
Organización definida por ella misma como pequeña y mediana empresa (pyme) en el momento de la firma del acuerdo de subvención.