Paz Matheus de Araújo, Meireles Anne Caroline Alves, Galvão Cleber, Gil-Santana Hélcio Reinaldo, Julião Genimar Rebouças
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz Rondônia, Laboratório de Entomologia, Porto Velho, RO, Brasil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Laboratório Nacional e Internacional de Referência em Taxonomia de Triatomíneos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2025 Mar 31;58:e004032025. doi: 10.1590/0037-8682-0240-2024. eCollection 2025.
Triatomine recognition by the public is an important factor in Chagas disease (CD) prevention campaigns. Citizen surveillance has been demonstrated as an effective alternative strategy, increasing the possibility of monitoring vector populations on a broad geographic scale. Thus, our study aimed to explore a database built from pictorial/video records and specimens sent through citizen participation, identify the main groups confused with triatomines, and systematize the data on insect diversity.
Due to demand from the local community, the "WhatsBarb" project was established using a digital platform application, to receive photos of suspected insects, or triatomines, and provide digital campaigns, with instructions for collecting insects and delivery to Entomological Surveillance Services.
In total, 465 insect records were obtained between 2019 and 2024. We identified taxonomic orders and families in 464 and 454 records, respectively, and estimated at least 68 genera, 42 species, and 101 distinct taxa. Triatomines represented 32.3% of the volunteer contacts. Records showed a predominance of true bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), including phytophagous species and predator reduviids (54.6%; n=254). Contacts were received from 20 of the 26 states in Brazil, in addition to the Federal District.
Our findings demonstrate the power of digital tools in public health, which could aid in describing, preventing, and controlling CD vectors, and could be applied to other neglected diseases.
公众对锥蝽的认知是恰加斯病（CD）预防运动中的一个重要因素。公民监测已被证明是一种有效的替代策略，增加了在广泛地理范围内监测病媒种群的可能性。因此，我们的研究旨在探索一个由公民参与提供的图片/视频记录和标本构建的数据库，识别与锥蝽混淆的主要类群，并对昆虫多样性数据进行系统化整理。
由于当地社区的需求，“WhatsBarb”项目利用数字平台应用程序设立，用于接收疑似昆虫或锥蝽的照片，并提供数字宣传活动，以及有关收集昆虫并送交昆虫学监测服务机构的说明。
2019年至2024年期间共获得465条昆虫记录。我们分别在464条和454条记录中识别出分类目和科，并估计至少有68个属、42个种和101个不同的分类单元。锥蝽占志愿者联系记录的32.3%。记录显示，半翅目异翅亚目昆虫占主导地位，包括植食性物种和捕食性猎蝽（54.6%；n = 254）。除联邦区外，还收到了来自巴西26个州中20个州的联系记录。
我们的研究结果证明了数字工具在公共卫生中的作用，其有助于描述、预防和控制恰加斯病病媒，并且可应用于其他被忽视的疾病。
