Integrating citizen science and field sampling into next-generation early-warning systems for vector surveillance: twenty years of municipal detections of Aedes invasive mosquito species in Spain

The spread of the invasive mosquitoes Aedes albopictus, Aedes aegypti, and Aedes japonicus in Spain represents an increasing public health risk due to their capacity to transmit arboviruses such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya, among others. Traditional field entomological surveillance remains esse...

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Autores: Eritja, Roger, Sanpera Calbet, Isis, Palmer, John R. B., Bartumeus, Frederic
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10230/71564
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71564
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects16090904
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Aedes
Surveillance
Citizen science
Mosquito alert
Field sampling
Vector
Invasive
Disease
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spelling Integrating citizen science and field sampling into next-generation early-warning systems for vector surveillance: twenty years of municipal detections of Aedes invasive mosquito species in SpainEritja, RogerSanpera Calbet, IsisPalmer, John R. B.Bartumeus, FredericAedesSurveillanceCitizen scienceMosquito alertField samplingVectorInvasiveDiseaseThe spread of the invasive mosquitoes Aedes albopictus, Aedes aegypti, and Aedes japonicus in Spain represents an increasing public health risk due to their capacity to transmit arboviruses such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya, among others. Traditional field entomological surveillance remains essential for tracking their spread, but it faces limitations in terms of cost, scalability, and labor intensity. Since 2014, the Mosquito Alert citizen-science project has enabled public participation in surveillance through the submission of geolocated images via a mobile app, which are identified using AI in combination with expert validation. While field surveillance provides high accuracy, citizen science offers low-cost, large-scale, real-time data collection aligned with open data management principles. It is particularly useful for detecting long-distance dispersal events and has contributed up to one-third of the municipal detections of invasive mosquito species since 2014. This study assesses the value of integrating both surveillance systems to capitalize on their complementary strengths while compensating for their weaknesses in the areas of taxonomic accuracy, scalability, spatial detection patterns, data curation and validation systems, geographic precision, interoperability, and real-time output. We present the listing of municipal detections of these species from 2004 to 2024, integrating data from both sources. Spain's integrated approach demonstrates a pioneering model for cost-effective, scalable vector surveillance tailored to the dynamics of invasive species and emerging epidemiological threats.MDPI2025202520252025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10230/71564http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects16090904http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71564reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunyainstname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)InglésInsects. 2025 Sep;16(9):904© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:recercat.cat:10230/715642026-05-29T05:05:01Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Integrating citizen science and field sampling into next-generation early-warning systems for vector surveillance: twenty years of municipal detections of Aedes invasive mosquito species in Spain
title Integrating citizen science and field sampling into next-generation early-warning systems for vector surveillance: twenty years of municipal detections of Aedes invasive mosquito species in Spain
spellingShingle Integrating citizen science and field sampling into next-generation early-warning systems for vector surveillance: twenty years of municipal detections of Aedes invasive mosquito species in Spain
Eritja, Roger
Aedes
Surveillance
Citizen science
Mosquito alert
Field sampling
Vector
Invasive
Disease
title_short Integrating citizen science and field sampling into next-generation early-warning systems for vector surveillance: twenty years of municipal detections of Aedes invasive mosquito species in Spain
title_full Integrating citizen science and field sampling into next-generation early-warning systems for vector surveillance: twenty years of municipal detections of Aedes invasive mosquito species in Spain
title_fullStr Integrating citizen science and field sampling into next-generation early-warning systems for vector surveillance: twenty years of municipal detections of Aedes invasive mosquito species in Spain
title_full_unstemmed Integrating citizen science and field sampling into next-generation early-warning systems for vector surveillance: twenty years of municipal detections of Aedes invasive mosquito species in Spain
title_sort Integrating citizen science and field sampling into next-generation early-warning systems for vector surveillance: twenty years of municipal detections of Aedes invasive mosquito species in Spain
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Eritja, Roger
Sanpera Calbet, Isis
Palmer, John R. B.
Bartumeus, Frederic
author Eritja, Roger
author_facet Eritja, Roger
Sanpera Calbet, Isis
Palmer, John R. B.
Bartumeus, Frederic
author_role author
author2 Sanpera Calbet, Isis
Palmer, John R. B.
Bartumeus, Frederic
author2_role author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Aedes
Surveillance
Citizen science
Mosquito alert
Field sampling
Vector
Invasive
Disease
topic Aedes
Surveillance
Citizen science
Mosquito alert
Field sampling
Vector
Invasive
Disease
description The spread of the invasive mosquitoes Aedes albopictus, Aedes aegypti, and Aedes japonicus in Spain represents an increasing public health risk due to their capacity to transmit arboviruses such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya, among others. Traditional field entomological surveillance remains essential for tracking their spread, but it faces limitations in terms of cost, scalability, and labor intensity. Since 2014, the Mosquito Alert citizen-science project has enabled public participation in surveillance through the submission of geolocated images via a mobile app, which are identified using AI in combination with expert validation. While field surveillance provides high accuracy, citizen science offers low-cost, large-scale, real-time data collection aligned with open data management principles. It is particularly useful for detecting long-distance dispersal events and has contributed up to one-third of the municipal detections of invasive mosquito species since 2014. This study assesses the value of integrating both surveillance systems to capitalize on their complementary strengths while compensating for their weaknesses in the areas of taxonomic accuracy, scalability, spatial detection patterns, data curation and validation systems, geographic precision, interoperability, and real-time output. We present the listing of municipal detections of these species from 2004 to 2024, integrating data from both sources. Spain's integrated approach demonstrates a pioneering model for cost-effective, scalable vector surveillance tailored to the dynamics of invasive species and emerging epidemiological threats.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025
2025
2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71564
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects16090904
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71564
url http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71564
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects16090904
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Insects. 2025 Sep;16(9):904
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv MDPI
publisher.none.fl_str_mv MDPI
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
instname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
instname_str Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
reponame_str Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
collection Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
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