University of New South Wales (Sydney), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Vector-borne Disease Unit, Solomon Islands Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Honiara, Solomon Islands.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Mar 16;21(1):509. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10493-6.
Recent arboviral disease outbreaks highlight the value a better understanding of the spread of disease-carrying mosquitoes across spatial-temporal scales can provide. Traditional surveillance tools are limited by jurisdictional boundaries, workforce constraints, logistics, and cost; factors that in low- and middle-income countries often conspire to undermine public health protection efforts. To overcome these, we undertake a pilot study designed to explore if citizen science provides a feasible strategy for arboviral vector surveillance in small developing Pacific island contexts.
We recruited, trained, and equipped community volunteers to trap and type mosquitos within their household settings, and to report count data to a central authority by short-message-service. Mosquito catches were independently assessed to measure participants' mosquito identification accuracy. Other data were collected to measure the frequency and stability of reporting, and volunteers' experiences.
Participants collected data for 78.3% of the study period, and agreement between the volunteer citizen scientists' and the reviewing entomologist's mosquito identification was 94%. Opportunity to contribute to a project of social benefit, the chance to learn new skills, and the frequency of engagement with project staff were prime motivators for participation. Unstable electricity supply (required to run the trap's fan), insufficient personal finances (to buy electricity and phone credit), and inconvenience were identified as barriers to sustained participation.
While there are challenges to address, our findings suggest that citizen science offers an opportunity to overcome the human resource constraints that conspire to limit health authorities' capacity to monitor arboviral vectors across populations. We note that the success of citizen science-based surveillance is dependent on the appropriate selection of equipment and participants, and the quality of engagement and support provided.
最近的虫媒病毒病疫情突显了更好地了解病媒蚊在时空尺度上的传播情况所能带来的价值。传统的监测工具受到管辖范围、劳动力限制、后勤和成本的限制；这些因素在中低收入国家往往会破坏公共卫生保护工作。为了克服这些问题，我们进行了一项试点研究，旨在探索公民科学是否为小岛屿发展中国家的虫媒病毒病媒介监测提供了可行的策略。
我们招募、培训和装备社区志愿者，让他们在家庭环境中诱捕和鉴定蚊子，并通过短消息服务向中央权威机构报告数量数据。独立评估蚊子捕获量以衡量参与者的蚊子识别准确性。还收集了其他数据来衡量报告的频率和稳定性以及志愿者的经验。
参与者在研究期间的 78.3%时间内收集了数据，志愿者公民科学家和审查昆虫学家的蚊子识别结果的一致性为 94%。为社会公益项目做出贡献的机会、学习新技能的机会以及与项目工作人员的互动频率是参与的主要动机。不稳定的电力供应（需要运行捕蚊器的风扇）、个人财务不足（购买电力和电话信用）和不便被认为是持续参与的障碍。
虽然存在需要解决的挑战，但我们的研究结果表明，公民科学为克服限制卫生当局监测人群中虫媒病毒病媒介能力的人力资源限制提供了机会。我们注意到，基于公民科学的监测的成功取决于设备和参与者的适当选择以及提供的互动和支持的质量。
