Scientists from a Welsh university are using drones to combat the spread of malaria in Zanzibar.

The team from Aberystwyth University developed this technology to identify water pools that allow the breeding of mosquitos that carry this disease proliferates. 

Once identified, the pools can be treated to stop adult mosquitos being produced of whom have the capability to spread the disease.

According to an article on BBC News, the drones are controlled by smartphones that also collate images of these potential malaria pools.

To both identify and predict where new water pools may develop is seen as a challenge without having the vantage point that these drones provide.

“These things conceptually on the ground are quite difficult, but as soon as you get that perspective, for instance over a large rice paddy, you can see it come alive,” said Andy Hardy, a lecturer at Aberystwyth University’s Department for Geography and Earth Sciences.

One of the prime catalysts behind the spread of the disease is the female Anopheles mosquito. It is a disease that kills approximately 400,000 people in the world every year. 

However, projects like this will contribute to the aim of eradicating the disease within Zanzibar’s islands by 2023, which is what the Zanzibar Malaria Elimination Programme is hoping to achieve.

“This project has been really helpful in terms of reaching and identifying the breeding sites, but also in terms of expenses,” said Faiza Abbas, deputy programme manager of the Malaria Elimination Programme.

“We as a programme are determined to use this technology to make sure we are capturing almost all the breeding sites because when you talk about malaria, there is no way you can leave behind the breeding sites. It’s a really, really important technology.”