Building Capacity for Mosquito-borne Disease Surveillance in Santo Domingo, Ecuador

This project will convey UW expertise and skills for trapping and identifying mosquito vectors that spread many important public health pathogens, including dengue, chikungunya, and zika viruses. The UW and Andean Health & Development (AHD) will establish a program to enhance the capacity of AHD’s Hesburgh Hospital in Santo Domingo, Ecuador, and take a cross-cutting approach to addressing the problem of increasing rates of vector-borne disease. The mosquito species in the city are unknown and their distributions have not been measured. Mosquito surveillance will enable AHD to assess risk patterns and prepare for outbreaks. We will share expertise from the UW campus to AHD through hands-on education, training, and sharing of knowledge.