Publicação
Enhancing Entomological Surveillance: Real-Time Monitoring of Mosquito Activity with the VECTRACK System in Rural and Urban Areas
| dc.contributor.author | Silva, Manuel | |
| dc.contributor.author | Gouveia, Bruna R. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Santos, José Maurício | |
| dc.contributor.author | Guerreiro, Nélia | |
| dc.contributor.author | Monteiro, Alexandra | |
| dc.contributor.author | Almeida, Soraia | |
| dc.contributor.author | Osório, Hugo Costa | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-02-20T13:14:43Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-02-20T13:14:43Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-08-14 | |
| dc.description | (This article belongs to the Special Issue Arthropods as Vectors of Human and Animal Pathogens: Vector Ecology and Disease Transmission) | |
| dc.description.abstract | Background: Mosquitoes from the Aedes (Ae.) genus are vectors of dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and other arboviruses, posing a significant public health threat. In 2005, Aedes aegypti was detected for the first time in Madeira Island, Portugal, in the city of Funchal, and has since become established in the region. In 2017, Aedes albopictus was detected for the first time in mainland Portugal. These invasion events require targeted entomological surveillance, which demands substantial human resources and a high management capacity for traditional vector monitoring. Following promising results obtained in laboratory conditions, a field-deployable model of a bioacoustic sensor for the automatic classification of mosquitoes integrated with a Biogents Sentinel trap as part of the VECTRACK system was tested in three regions in Portugal. Methods: The VECTRACK system was deployed in three locations: Funchal on Madeira Island, and Palmela and Algarve on mainland Portugal. Catch bags were manually inspected at intervals ranging from daily to weekly, resulting in a total of 38 captures in Madeira, 10 in Palmela, and 7 in the Algarve. Manual identifications were compared with those generated by the VECTRACK system, and the degree of correlation between the two datasets was assessed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Results: A total of 176 mosquitoes were captured in Madeira, 732 in Palmela, and 143 in the Algarve. Both manual and sensor-based identifications demonstrated similar performance, with high correlation observed between the two methods. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients indicated high agreement for both female and male mosquitoes across all sites: Madeira: females = 0.84, males = 0.92, Palmela: females = 0.99, males = 0.84, Algarve: females = 0.98, and males = 0.99, all with p-values < 0.001. Conclusions: The VECTRACK system demonstrated strong performance in accurately distinguishing mosquitoes from non-mosquitoes, differentiating between Aedes and Culex genera, and identifying the sex of individual specimens. These promising results provide a solid foundation for the development of automated early warning systems and enhance mosquito surveillance strategies, which are critical for timely responses to potential vector-borne disease outbreaks. | eng |
| dc.description.sponsorship | This work was funded by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA), project MOBVEC-Mobile Bio-Lab to support the first response in Arbovirus outbreaks, reference HORIZON-EIC-2022-PATHFINDEROPEN-01, with the grant agreement number 101099283; PhD fellowship funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), reference 2022.13476.BDANA; and ITI/Larsys, Funded by FCT projects: 10.54499/LA/P/0083/2020; 10.54499/UIDP/50009/2020 & 10.54499/UIDB/50009/2020. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Biology (Basel). 2025 Aug 14;14(8):1047. doi: 10.3390/biology14081047 | |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.3390/biology14081047 | |
| dc.identifier.eissn | 2079-7737 | |
| dc.identifier.pmid | 40906386 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/10965 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.peerreviewed | yes | |
| dc.publisher | MDPI | |
| dc.relation | Mobile Bio-Lab to support first response in Arbovirus outbreaks | |
| dc.relation | Capacidade vetorial de Aedes albopictus: risco de surtos por arbovírus no sul de Portugal | |
| dc.relation.hasversion | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/14/8/1047 | |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject | Aedes Vectors | |
| dc.subject | VECTRACK | |
| dc.subject | Machine-learning | |
| dc.subject | Mosquito Surveillance | |
| dc.subject | Infecções Sistémicas e Zoonoses | |
| dc.title | Enhancing Entomological Surveillance: Real-Time Monitoring of Mosquito Activity with the VECTRACK System in Rural and Urban Areas | por |
| dc.type | journal article | |
| dcterms.references | https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/biology14081047/s1 | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| oaire.awardNumber | 101099283 | |
| oaire.awardNumber | 2022.13476.BDANA | |
| oaire.awardTitle | Mobile Bio-Lab to support first response in Arbovirus outbreaks | |
| oaire.awardTitle | Capacidade vetorial de Aedes albopictus: risco de surtos por arbovírus no sul de Portugal | |
| oaire.awardURI | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/10525 | |
| oaire.awardURI | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/10399 | |
| oaire.citation.issue | 8 | |
| oaire.citation.startPage | 1047 | |
| oaire.citation.title | Biology | |
| oaire.citation.volume | 14 | |
| oaire.fundingStream | HORIZON EIC Grants | |
| oaire.version | http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85 | |
| relation.isProjectOfPublication | e7fd072e-ab9e-4ce3-bd43-0ec8950161a0 | |
| relation.isProjectOfPublication | 63b7c557-db91-48e2-9f80-f4ffd6d851a2 | |
| relation.isProjectOfPublication.latestForDiscovery | e7fd072e-ab9e-4ce3-bd43-0ec8950161a0 |