Drone Warfare against Mosquitoes Group: Nauman Afridi, Michael Benison, and Jenai Booker 12/13/2013 Source:

Uses and Benefits of Drones ❏ Remote Controlled Drones ❏ Cheaper to build and operate ❏ Controlled completely by humans ❏ Smart Drones ❏ Only a few humans are necessary to operate it ❏ Could be more effective in locating breeding grounds ❏ Pre-programmed ❏ Easy to operate ❏ Stable, routine action

Dengue Virus ❏ Dengue hemorrhagic fever is caused by the bite of striped Aedes aegypti mosquitoe ❏ Causes Severe Flu like illness with Headache, fever,joint pain and if untreated causes death.

Dengue Outbreak in Punjab Province Pakistan ❏ First case was detected in 1994 ❏ Severe dengue epidemic in 2011 in the Punjab Province ❏ Since then 300 people killed, infected ❏ Cost of Treatment is US $1000 ❏ Cities of Lahore and Rawalpindi were the most affected

Preventive Actions by the Government Spraying of insecticides by hand held and vehicle mounted spraying machines

Dengue Spraying Machines

Preventive Measures ( Contd…) Killing mosquito larvae in open waters: ❏ introducing fish ❏ using chemicals

Costs To the Government in the city of Rawalpindi ActivityCost US $ Insecticides20,000 Equipment etc20,000 Patient Treatment Cost (Approx 300 patients in 2013)300,000 Staff training5,000 Awareness Campaign5,000 Misc10,000 Total360,000

Proposal ❏ Introduce a drone pilot project in the city of Rawalpindi. ❏ Cost of drones varies from US $20,000 to US $ 80,000 ❏ Florida Keys Mosquito Control district is testing drones to detect mosquito larvae sites and kill them.

Advantages ❏ Reduced cost due to: ❏ Effective control of breeding sites ❏ No training of ground staff ❏ Lesser awareness campaigns ❏ Lesser burden on government officials ❏ Live monitoring by health officials ❏ Easy maneuverability and reaching inaccessible areas.