The aim of this collaborative socially engaged work is to investigate new ways field researchers can make precise digital images of insect specimens and use a custom pattern recognition algorithm to accurately identify and map species that are vectors for deadly diseases.
The disease we focused on is called Chagas disease. Chagas is prevalent throughout Latin America and there are an estimated 100 million people at risk of infection. I took the above photo of a pop up blood screening clinic for the disease in Yucatán. The samples are taken by nurses working under the guidance of our partners in Mexico.
The pop up clinic exams include EKG monitoring to check for heart damage caused by Chagas disease.
Microscopist Hugo Manuel Itza Cach is getting a demonstration of the Virtual Vector Laboratory specimen photo platform from two of our principal partners Rodrigo Gurgel (Brazil) and Janine Ramsey (Mexico).
As part of our team's mission to engage a broad international population at risk of Chagas disease as well as those interested in collaborating with the Virtual Vector Laboratory, I produced bilingual documentary video.
To get video footage and a better understanding of how people become infected, I shadowed bug hunters in Cuernavaca Mexico to film them conducting home inspections. They use their findings to map the prevalence of the Triatomine bug (vector of Chagas disease). The bugs transmit the parasite that causes Chagas disease while taking a blood meal from their sleeping victim.
The team of bug hunters I followed in Morelos Mexico.
The Triatomine bugs that transmit Chagas disease exist in the southern United States but the particular species found in this region is not as effective of a transmitter of the parasite to humans. There are however widespread cases of dogs contracting the disease in the United States because they sometimes eat the bugs.
To standardize photo samples used to train our teams algorithm, I designed photo platforms to be used by researchers throughout Latin America. The platform includes a macro lens, specimen pin, and integrated light source. It is easily disinfected, withstands the elements and packs flat in a carrying case for shipment between labs.
As our collaborators take photos of their specimens with the device, the images are automatically uploaded to our server where software identifies which specific species is in the image. Knowing which of the approximately 150 members of the Triatomine family is present helps guide treatment efforts and generate a much needed vector map using the metadata from the photos.
Rodrigo demonstrates how to use our device to researchers in a laboratory in Merida Mexico.
Our principal investigator Townsend Peterson of Kansas University joins the team for a lunch meeting in Merida to discuss next steps.
To produce an informational video showing where Triatomines can be found in the home, I shadowed bug hunters in Cuernavaca Mexico to film them conducting home inspections. They use their findings to map the prevalence of the Triatomine bug (vector of Chagas disease). The bugs transmit the parasite that causes Chagas disease while taking a blood meal from their sleeping victim.
Once they note the presence of the bugs, they’ll treat the area and do follow up checks to monitor the home.