THE CHALLENGE: ZIKA
On February 1, 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Zika virus and associated health threats an international public health emergency. The virus, spread primarily through mosquito bites, is linked to serious birth defects in the babies of mothers who were infected while pregnant. WHO now considers Zika to be an ongoing health threat requiring intense action. In response, the global innovator community is mobilizing to develop novel solutions that can be used to combat the current Zika outbreak and strengthen the world’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to future infectious disease outbreaks. USAID is supporting the development, testing, and scale up of 26 of these groundbreaking ideas that can mitigate Zika and protect us against future and infectious disease threats.
FEATURED ZIKA AND FUTURE THREATS INNOVATIONS
Photo: USAID
Combating Zika with Chromobacterium
An Environmentally Friendly Biopesticide
Organization: Johns Hopkins University
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
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Photo: USAID
Low-cost Treated Sandals
Transfluthrin-treated Sandals For Providing Round-the-clock Protection Against Mosquito Bites
Organization: Ifakara Health Institute
Location: Ifakara & Dar es Salaam-Tanzania, Minas Gerais & Belo Horizonte - Brazil
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Photo: USAID
Aerial Robotics for Vector Control
Using Aerial Robotics to Reduce Zika and other Threats to Public Health
Organization: WeRobotics
Location: Lima, Peru
Read MoreFeatured Innovators
The Institute for Global Environment Strategies (IGES)
Arlington, Virginia-based IGES is leading the Mosquito Challenge Community Campaign (MCCC) to engage citizen scientists to collect mosquito data and develop localized mitigation strategies to reduce the risk of disease in their communities.
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Monash University
Monash University’s Eliminate Dengue program, led by Professor Scott O’Neill, is conducting the first-ever scaled deployment of Wolbachia-infected mosquitos to block the transmission of the Zika virus in Colombia.
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Premise
Premise Data in San Francisco is deploying its mobile-based data and analytics platform to enable real-time reporting of geo-tagged vector data and environmental risk factors, allowing vector control workers to detect and respond to threats earlier.
See MoreARE WE READY FOR THE NEXT OUTBREAK?
The recent outbreaks of Ebola and Zika demonstrate the need for new and improved tools to fight infectious diseases. Episode one provides the context around current and future efforts in the prevention of and response to infectious disease outbreaks. Episodes two and three detail how USAID identifies and invests in the most promising ideas, and applies market-oriented approaches to reduce the time it takes to transform ideas in a lab to impact on the ground.
Episode 1: The Race to Preparedness
Leading infectious disease experts share lessons learned from recent infectious disease outbreaks and discuss how USAID and its partners collaborate to advance prevention and response capacities.
Moderator: Latrisha Chappin, Africa Bureau, USAID
Panelists: Dan Bausch, UK Public Health Rapid Support Team
Christina Chappell, Bureau for Global Health, USAID
Maja Carrion, International Society for Infectious Disease
Episode 2: Unexpected Paths to Innovation
Grand Challenge innovators discuss the unusual paths they have taken to develop innovative solutions to help prevent, detect, and respond to future infectious disease outbreaks.
Moderator: Irene Koek, Bureau for Global Health, USAID
Panelists: Youseph Yazdi, Johns Hopkins University
Fredros Okumu, Ifakara Health Institute
Beth Kolko, Shift Labs
Episode 3: Fighting Outbreaks with Technology
Learn from three Grand Challenge innovators about USAID’s role in catalyzing and supporting the scale up of their technologies that can help fight infectious diseases outbreaks.
Moderator: David Milestone, Bureau for Global Health, USAID
Panelists: Sarah Tadlaoui, Premise Data
Leah McManus, IntraHealth
Meg Glancey, Johns Hopkins University