Kenya eyes to AI to bridge malaria-transmitting mosquito surveillance gap
Kenya is implementing an AI-powered smartphone tool called VectorCam to assist community health workers in identifying malaria-transmitting mosquitoes. The project aims to improve surveillance speed and accuracy by integrating AI identification with traditional entomological expertise.
Why it matters
Using AI for real-time disease vector surveillance could significantly improve public health outcomes in regions with high malaria transmission rates.
Kenya is planning to use artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the tracking of mosquitoes that spread malaria, as health authorities seek to collect more information about the insects and the places where they are found.
The technology, known as VectorCam, is expected to be tested in October in partnership with the Kenya Medical Research Institute’s Centre for Global Health Research (Kemri-CGHR).
It will be used by community health promoters (CHPs) to collect and identify mosquitoes in large numbers of communities.VectorCam is an AI-powered smartphone device designed to rapidly identify mosquito species, sex, and feeding status in seconds.
Eric Ochomo, an entomologist at Kemri based at CGHR, says the technology is intended to widen the reach of existing mosquito monitoring efforts by speeding up identification.
“This would expand an existing surveillance system rather than replace it,” said Dr Ochomo.
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