The Zika virus has not been transmitted by mosquitoes in Arizona. Despite that, the University of Arizona’s college of public health has developed a smartphone application to help track insect-borne diseases.
The app is called Kidenga, and it’s designed to let anyone collect data on Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits Zika and other viruses.
Researchers want people to be an early warning system by reporting disease symptoms and mosquito activity near their homes each week. UA public health professor Kacey Ernst said not everyone who may be infected will seek treatment if their symptoms are mild.
“That’s one aspect of the app is to really try and enhance the early warning of the potential for transmission of these diseases circulating in our communities," said Ernst.
Ernst said the disease-tracking app was in development before the expansion of Zika in the past year.
Initially, disease data is available on the Kidenga app by ZIP codes in Arizona, California, Florida and Texas. Other states will be added.