Scott Edmunds

*Field notes of early-20th century entomologist Johanna Bonne-Wepster
have been turned into crucial new public health data through
digitization, filling data gaps and continuing her legacy in forming
Dutch tropical medicine research.*

::: {.wp-block-image}
<figure class="aligncenter size-full">
<img
src="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Bonne-Wepster2.jpg"
class="wp-image-5046" loading="lazy" decoding="async"
srcset="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Bonne-Wepster2.jpg 576w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Bonne-Wepster2-300x181.jpg 300w"
sizes="(max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px" width="576" height="348"
alt="Bonne-Wepster collection" />
</figure>
:::

Natural history collections contain huge amounts of information on
diversity, distribution and ecology of a variety of species; however,
much of this valuable information is effectively lost  to researchers
due to historical and practical constraints: most of these data are only
available on non-digitised labels and journal notes. The absence of such
extensive data is particularly unfortunate because some of those records
include information on vector-borne disease species, including a variety
of mosquito species, which are responsible for more than 17% of
infectious diseases worldwide. Moreover, as climate change alters
temperatures and weather patterns around the world, invasive species are
spreading into new areas, with the expectation that the risk of
vector-borne diseases will further increase. [It is
estimated](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007213) that by 2050,
disease-carrying mosquitoes will ultimately reach 500 million more
people than they do today. To address this critical data loss, a team of
researchers at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center have painstakingly
organised and digitised information from the handwritten notebooks of
the Dutch entomologist Johanna Bonne-Wepster (1892-1978), unlocking
formerly inaccessible information and making it readily available to
researchers and citizen scientists worldwide. The article is [published
today](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.85) as latest paper in the
[*GigaByte* Vectors of human disease
series](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/second-call-vector-papers/).

[Bonne-Wepste](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johanna_Bonne-Wepster)r
played a particularly important role in Dutch tropical medicine. Her
career spanned from 1917 to 1961, during which time she and her husband
carried out research in the former Dutch colonies of Indonesia and
Suriname. Bonne-Wepster, one of many historical, non-formally trained
women who, like these data, are lost to history, collected tens of
thousands of mosquitos, and trained herself to identify their species.
Her thorough investigations, which provide detailed physical
descriptions of this blood-sucking family of insects, was aimed at
giving non-taxonomists the means to recognize different vector species. 

Bibiche Berkholst from Naturalis comments on the collection:
"*Bonne-Wepster collected and documented a huge amount of mosquitoes in
her lifetime. We were able to digitise over 10,000 of those, which took
us many months. Each mosquito had to be checked against the
Bonne-Wepster's field books, and many specimens were missing locality
and/or species labels, which needed to be added as well. It feels very
satisfying that this important collection has been digitised, and I hope
that the remarkable history of Bonne-Wepster will inspire many female
amateur entomologists like myself.*"

During the twenties and thirties Bonne-Wepster collected the bulk of her
legacy collections. After her return to The Netherlands in 1948,
Bonne-Wepster continued researching mosquitoes primarily at the
University of Amsterdam. Even though she was not academically trained,
her enormous contribution to the field of mosquito taxonomy ultimately
did not go unnoticed as she was given an honorary doctorate from that
university in 1951. In the 1970s, her collection was transferred to
Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie (RMNH) in Leiden, now known as
Naturalis. Initially, the museum obtained only the sampled specimens,
not the field books with elaborate fieldnotes. The field books were
thought to have been lost until a curator of the RMNH made a visit to
the elderly Mrs. Bonne-Wepster and was able to retrieve them.

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized">
<img
src="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Drie_erepromoties_te_Amsterdam._Eredoctoraten_voor_mevr._J._Bonne-Wepster_genee_Bestanddeelnr_904-7681-1024x1024.jpg"
class="wp-image-5045" loading="lazy" decoding="async"
srcset="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Drie_erepromoties_te_Amsterdam._Eredoctoraten_voor_mevr._J._Bonne-Wepster_genee_Bestanddeelnr_904-7681-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Drie_erepromoties_te_Amsterdam._Eredoctoraten_voor_mevr._J._Bonne-Wepster_genee_Bestanddeelnr_904-7681-300x300.jpg 300w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Drie_erepromoties_te_Amsterdam._Eredoctoraten_voor_mevr._J._Bonne-Wepster_genee_Bestanddeelnr_904-7681-150x150.jpg 150w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Drie_erepromoties_te_Amsterdam._Eredoctoraten_voor_mevr._J._Bonne-Wepster_genee_Bestanddeelnr_904-7681-768x768.jpg 768w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Drie_erepromoties_te_Amsterdam._Eredoctoraten_voor_mevr._J._Bonne-Wepster_genee_Bestanddeelnr_904-7681-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Drie_erepromoties_te_Amsterdam._Eredoctoraten_voor_mevr._J._Bonne-Wepster_genee_Bestanddeelnr_904-7681-2048x2048.jpg 2048w"
sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" width="768" height="768"
alt="Johanna Bonne-Wepster" />
<figcaption>Johanna Bonne-Wepster receiving her honorary Doctorate from
the University of Amsterdam. CC0.</figcaption>
</figure>

Efforts are being taken to digitise these original field books,
mobilising data contained in them, and corroborating this with the
associated specimens. For the first time, these archival texts and
52,102 of her records of mosquitoes are being released into the public
domain via the [Naturalis](https://hdl.handle.net/21.12107/402003304)
and [GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility)
repositories](https://doi.org/10.15468/cl6p3l), making them fully
available to both researchers and citizen scientists worldwide. In
addition to previously inaccessible Bonne-Wepster data, the researchers
have also digitised detailed information from the smaller amounts of
data from collections available at the Zoölogisch Museum Amsterdam
Nederland (1,216 mosquitoes) and the former RMNH (another 2,388
mosquitoes).

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized">
<img
src="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Bonne-WepsterNotebook.jpg"
class="wp-image-5047" loading="lazy" decoding="async"
srcset="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Bonne-WepsterNotebook.jpg 904w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Bonne-WepsterNotebook-300x200.jpg 300w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Bonne-WepsterNotebook-768x511.jpg 768w"
sizes="(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" width="840" height="559"
alt="Johanna Bonne-Wepster notebooks" />
</figure>

The data made available through this project is particularly valuable
because it describes historical and recent records of mosquitoes, and
can be used in different areas of research, including estimates of
spatial distribution, modelling of current and future distributions
through Ecological Niche Modeling, and for developing much-needed vector
control programs.  It further highlights the importance of finding,
digitally extracting, and organising data from the vast number of
unavailable and extremely valuable historical documents so they can add
to the currently available information, form historic baselines, and
substantially extend the study of trends in the spread of vectors of
human and animal disease. This type of work can have a huge impact on
current public health issues as well as be of historical interest.** **

First author Pasquale Ciliberti says of the data*: "I would really like
it if the data we unlocked could contribute, even in a minimal form, to
the understanding of the ecology of mosquitoes.  To me, as a collection
manager, it would have been a nightmare if the information stored in the
field books would have been lost. I am very glad that this information
is online and available to researchers. Also I am pleased that we are
valuing the work of a [woman in
Science](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/tag/women-in-science/). She
was officially an "amateur". She shows that with passion and commitment
you can achieve a lot."*

This paper is part of the second phase of s[ubmissions of vectors of
human disease data papers](http://org/10.46471/GIGABYTE_SERIES_0002)
supported by the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical
Diseases, hosted at the World Health Organization (WHO). After the
[publication of our first disease vector data from Africa (Burkina Faso
and Ivory Coast)](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.83) last month, this
paper includes our first major data collection from Asia.

## References {#references .wp-block-heading}

Ciliberti P et al., Digitizing the Culicidae collection of Naturalis
Biodiversity Center, with a special focus on the former Bonne-Wepster
subcollection. *GigaByte. 2023.*
[https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.85](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.84)

Taconet P et al., Anopheles sampling collections in the health districts
of Korhogo (Côte d'Ivoire) and Diébougou (Burkina Faso) between 2016 and
2018, *GigaByte*, 2023 <https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.83>  
  
Edmunds et al., Publishing data to support the fight against human
vector-borne diseases, *GigaScience*, Volume 11, 2022, giac114,
<https://doi.org/10.1093/gigascience/giac114> 

You can see all the papers in the Vector-Borne Disease series here:

<https://doi.org/10.46471/GIGABYTE_SERIES_0002>

<figure
class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio">
<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class="iframe">
<div id="player">

</div>
<div class="player-unavailable">
<h1 id="ein-fehler-ist-aufgetreten." class="message">Ein Fehler ist
aufgetreten.</h1>
<div class="submessage">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m4pXCScPDw"
target="_blank">Sieh dir dieses Video auf www.youtube.com an</a> oder
aktiviere JavaScript, falls es in deinem Browser deaktiviert sein
sollte.
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<figcaption>Update 22/8/2023: The authors have produced a great video
that we can now include here.</figcaption>
</figure>

The post [Converting the Field Records of Early-20th Century Public
Health Pioneer to
Data](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/field-records-of-johanna-bonne-wepster/){rel="nofollow"}
appeared first on
[GigaBlog](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog){rel="nofollow"}.


<em>
 Field notes of early-20th century entomologist Johanna Bonne-Wepster have been turned into crucial new public health data through digitization, filling data gaps and continuing her legacy in forming Dutch tropical medicine research.
</em>
Natural history collections contain huge amounts of information on diversity, distribution and ecology of a variety of species; however, much of this valuable information is effectively lost

Converting the Field Records of Early-20th Century Public Health Pioneer to Data

*UPDATE: The deadline for the call has been extended until the 30th
June. TDR, GBIF and GigaScience Press have renewed their partnership for
a special journal issue focused on publishing new datasets that present
biodiversity data for research on vectors of human diseases*

[TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical
Diseases](https://tdr.who.int/) hosted at the [World Health
Organization](https://www.who.int) (WHO), [GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/)
and [GigaScience Press](https://en.genomics.cn/en-periodical-1818.html)
have announced a second call for authors to submit [Data Release
papers](https://gigabytejournal.com/data-release-description) on vectors
of human disease for inclusion in a thematic series published in
[*GigaByte* Journal](https://gigabytejournal.com/).

This second call builds on the [first part of the
series](https://doi.org/10.46471/GIGABYTE_SERIES_0002), which mobilized
[more than 500,000 occurrence
records](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?dataset_key=2a629a9a-38d1-496b-afbf-b4ff3b8fae60&dataset_key=a51b1fb9-6e67-42b9-879b-5f21e4d85642&dataset_key=1fef1ead-3d02-495e-8ff1-6aeb01123408&dataset_key=83ab030b-d243-469c-8947-1ed487e06a80&dataset_key=12315bb8-8ab3-446a-b5a4-2be93aade242&dataset_key=03269e13-84ae-430f-990e-f11069413e36&dataset_key=3331bcd4-f85e-4252-8e92-3aaa6fdc3eca&dataset_key=6679952f-649b-4888-bd97-00daca4b8cc1&dataset_key=9ee09033-8aab-4813-8c2b-db6d54d9817b&dataset_key=a178c443-d737-4938-b983-5fa8e50936fe&dataset_key=f5361e97-c8f1-4697-b209-8817e14ae780&dataset_key=f0ccf436-e2e8-4f61-af19-753cdb73ca00&dataset_key=d9f6d2bf-20d7-4b87-99ac-e902b34364e4&dataset_key=7140a42f-8ad6-43cd-b252-b5a791c8de4a&dataset_key=eae731a7-3e82-4295-b0b3-ec72d75a402d)
and 675,000 specimens from more than 50 countries. For an outline of the
initial results of this targeted approach to sharing data and its
importance for controlling vector-borne diseases and improving public
health we and many of the contributing authors to the series have [just
published an umbrella
paper](https://academic.oup.com/gigascience/article/doi/10.1093/gigascience/giac114/6795290?searchresult=1)
in *GigaScience*. Surveying and getting insight from the authors we
outline the make up of this first phase of submissions, what has been
presented, and what has been learned from the process of publishing them
in this manner.

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large">
<img
src="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/giac114fig1.jpeg"
class="wp-image-4659" data-fetchpriority="high" decoding="async"
srcset="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/giac114fig1.jpeg 700w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/giac114fig1-300x172.jpeg 300w"
sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" width="700" height="402" />
<figcaption>Summary of the data published from the new umbrella paper
just published in <em><a
href="https://academic.oup.com/gigascience/article/doi/10.1093/gigascience/giac114/6795290?searchresult=1">GigaScience</a></em>.</figcaption>
</figure>

Vector-borne diseases account for about one quarter of all infectious
diseases. Although there has been significant progress for malaria, with
a recent decrease in malaria morbidity and mortality rates, this
progress is currently halting. Other diseases, such as those caused by
arboviruses like dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever and more recently
Zika, are expanding, with an increased number of cases and fatalities.

The necessity for developing new vector control strategies, approaches
and tools was recognized through the Global Vector Control Response
[approved by the World Health Assembly in
2017](https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241512978). Among the
mutually agreed objectives between GBIF and TDR is to work on a
repository of data related to vectors and support design and
identification of sources and contacts for data mobilization campaigns
to improve data coverage to help research on human health. Within the
framework of this collaboration, *GigaByte* is pleased to support a
second issue on data papers on vectors.

As a reminder the data papers submitted should describe datasets with
the following criteria:

- Data has clear **relevance for research on** [**vectors of human
  vector-borne
  diseases**](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/vector-borne-diseases)
- Dataset **contains more than 5,000 records that are new to GBIF.org**
  in 2022-23, along with high-quality data and metadata
- Data is dedicated to the public domain under an open [**CC0
  designation**](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

The call for manuscripts will be open until **30 June 2023** (updated
from 30th April).

Due to generous support from TDR and the WHO [article processing
fee](https://gigabytejournal.com/open-access-and-apc#article-processing-charges)
will be waived for 15 papers, provided that the publications are
accepted and meet the above criteria.

To learn more about publishing data in this manner you can [watch the
GBIF webinar on "Data papers: Bringing data to
light"](https://www.gbif.org/event/1OaexeiM2ktptLjYoNGLUE/webinar-or-data-papers-bringing-data-to-light)
on 8^th^ November at 10am CET/UTC+1.

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large">
<img
src="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Fgs0t4sXkAA3aoh.jpg"
class="wp-image-4660" decoding="async"
srcset="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Fgs0t4sXkAA3aoh.jpg 700w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Fgs0t4sXkAA3aoh-300x271.jpg 300w"
sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" width="700" height="632"
alt="webinar for second call" />
</figure>

This will feature presentations from three open-data
publishers---[Pensoft Publishers](http://pensoft.org/), the [*Journal of
Limnology*](https://www.jlimnol.it/) and ourselves---to discuss three
current open calls for submissions of data papers that use GBIF to the
target mobilization of data [from Northern
Eurasia](https://www.gbif.org/news/B00TTCi85YIy3qNo5KXSM), [species that
inhabit or depend on
freshwater](https://www.gbif.org/news/2Z7fge80XcPXfdas6iysh7/), and our
[vectors of human
disease](https://www.gbif.org/event/1OaexeiM2ktptLjYoNGLUE/news/3Dlc7jJ260Q9wjkbViSzGX/)
examples. Demonstrating the mainstreaming of this concept, and that over
the past decade, GBIF has worked with journal publishers to support and
promote the preparation of data papers, with [nearly 400 data
papers](https://www.gbif.org/resource/search?contentType=literature&topics=DATA_PAPER&relevance=GBIF_PUBLISHED)
to date that describe FAIR and open datasets freely accessible through
its global infrastructure. Register
[here](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SdjpDTN6QeWX607jm7F3dA),
and you can also watch the previous [GBIF and GigaByte webinar and
Q&A](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/gbif-webinar/) on the first call
of the disease vectors series.

**Further Reading**  
Edmunds SC et al. Publishing data to support the fight against human
vector-borne diseases. *Gigascience*. 2022 Nov 3;11:giac114.
doi:[10.1093/gigascience/giac114](https://academic.oup.com/gigascience/article/doi/10.1093/gigascience/giac114/6795290?searchresult=1)

Vectors of human disease series. *GigaByte*. 2022.
<https://doi.org/10.46471/GIGABYTE_SERIES_0002>

The post [Second call (and webinar) for GigaByte's vectors of human
disease
series](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/second-call-vector-papers/){rel="nofollow"}
appeared first on
[GigaBlog](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog){rel="nofollow"}.


<em>
 UPDATE: The deadline for the call has been extended until the 30th June.
</em>

Second call (and webinar) for GigaByte’s vectors of human disease series

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized">
<img
src="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Screenshot-2022-06-14-at-5.04.12-PM-1024x752.png"
class="wp-image-4426" loading="lazy" decoding="async"
srcset="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Screenshot-2022-06-14-at-5.04.12-PM-1024x752.png 1024w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Screenshot-2022-06-14-at-5.04.12-PM-300x220.png 300w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Screenshot-2022-06-14-at-5.04.12-PM-768x564.png 768w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Screenshot-2022-06-14-at-5.04.12-PM-1536x1128.png 1536w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Screenshot-2022-06-14-at-5.04.12-PM.png 1558w"
sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" width="768" height="564" />
</figure>

Our [WHO-sponsored
series](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/vectors-of-human-diseases-series/)
of articles describing biodiversity data relevant to
vector-borne diseases has [now been published in
*GigaByte*](https://doi.org/10.46471/GIGABYTE_SERIES_0002). This special
issue presents a wide variety of data relating to the presence, spread,
and diversity of organisms that are transmitting viruses, bacteria and
parasites to humans. The biodiversity data described in these articles
provides researchers with information to aid in the battle against this
prevalent and growing burden on the health of millions of people
worldwide. Further, the work here incentivises data sharing through the
[GBIF.org](http://gbif.org/) platform to track and assess particular
species, most especially in geographic gaps where the presence and
expansion of these organisms are not well described. As the world
continues to see the spread of disease vector species and new
vector-borne diseases, the collection of monitoring data, coupled with
sharing of and open access to such data to enable analysis, are part of
the frontline to battle such scourges.

Vector-borne diseases are responsible for more than 17% of infectious
diseases. Debilitating and deadly diseases, such as malaria, dengue,
chikungunya, yellow fever and zika, can only be contained by having the
latest and most abundant amount of information on the presence,
diversity, ecology, bionomics and geographic spread of the organisms
that carry and transmit the infectious agents. There are, however, huge
gaps in the information related to these vectors, and data mobilisation
and sharing campaigns are essential to combat these scourges.

As part of these efforts, GigaScience Press partnered with the Global
Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and were supported by the
Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR),
hosted by the WHO. In total 11 Data Release papers on vectors of human
disease have now been [published in the thematic
series](https://doi.org/10.46471/GIGABYTE_SERIES_0002), providing open
access to the articles and the data collected in the efforts to promote
advance worldwide work in this arena. This effort has led to the release
of newly digitised location data for more than [500,000 occurrence
records](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?2a629a9a_38d1_496b_afbf_b4ff3b8fae60=&dataset_key=a51b1fb9-6e67-42b9-879b-5f21e4d85642&dataset_key=1fef1ead-3d02-495e-8ff1-6aeb01123408&dataset_key=83ab030b-d243-469c-8947-1ed487e06a80&dataset_key=12315bb8-8ab3-446a-b5a4-2be93aade242&dataset_key=03269e13-84ae-430f-990e-f11069413e36&dataset_key=3331bcd4-f85e-4252-8e92-3aaa6fdc3eca&dataset_key=6679952f-649b-4888-bd97-00daca4b8cc1&dataset_key=9ee09033-8aab-4813-8c2b-db6d54d9817b&dataset_key=a178c443-d737-4938-b983-5fa8e50936fe&dataset_key=f5361e97-c8f1-4697-b209-8817e14ae780&dataset_key=f0ccf436-e2e8-4f61-af19-753cdb73ca00&dataset_key=d9f6d2bf-20d7-4b87-99ac-e902b34364e4&dataset_key=7140a42f-8ad6-43cd-b252-b5a791c8de4a&dataset_key=eae731a7-3e82-4295-b0b3-ec72d75a402d)
(and 675,000 specimens) observed across the Americas and Europe.

The difficulty of carrying out a global call for novel data of this type
is reduced by creating mechanisms to incentive data collection, sharing,
and discovery. Currently, one of the best ways to overcome these
difficulties is through the publication of data papers, which provide
much deserved credit for the researchers carrying out this vital work
who typically do not receive the appropriate recognition. Such papers
drive readers directly to the data in their associated public domain
database ([GBIF](http://gbif.org/) in this case), as well as improving
its findability through well-established mechanisms for article
discovery, providing the means to give details about the collection,
methodology, and validation of the data presented. Data collection is
essential; open data sharing respecting [FAIR
principles](https://www.go-fair.org/fair-principles/) moves
understanding forward. The data for this series has been audited by our
curation team, organised, and made freely available to the community via
the [GBIF.org](http://gbif.org/) platform (on top of examples with data
also in NCBI, the EBI bioimaging archive and GigaDB), and each dataset's
access information is documented in the published articles.

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized">
<img
src="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Figure-2-1024x470.png"
class="wp-image-4428" loading="lazy" decoding="async"
srcset="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Figure-2-1024x470.png 1024w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Figure-2-300x138.png 300w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Figure-2-768x353.png 768w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Figure-2-1536x705.png 1536w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Figure-2.png 1594w"
sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" width="768" height="353"
alt="Vector-borne diseases" />
<figcaption>Data from the series in the GBIF.org repository showing the
geographic coverage of <a
href="https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.62">American triatomine
species</a>.</figcaption>
</figure>

GBIF's deputy director, Tim Hirsch, commented: "The great response to
this data paper series shows the enormous potential for improved
availability of data on species connected with human diseases. Such data
often already exists but is disconnected and unavailable for re-use:
opening it up through sharing via platforms such as GBIF, and alerting
the scientific community via peer-reviewed descriptions, supports better
understanding and policies reflecting the inextricable connections
between biodiversity and human health."

The articles in [this
series](https://doi.org/10.46471/GIGABYTE_SERIES_0002) include a wide
sampling of vectors across Europe and the Americas. In the Americas,
there is a study presenting information and [data on 428,960
ticks](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.56) collected across the United
States and a [collection of 80,000 sand
flies](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.52) potential vectors of
leishmaniasis from 20 different countries. Additional work includes
digitising historical collections from several [Brazilian
states](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.61), and efforts to [work
directly with indigenous
communities](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.61) deep in the Amazon to
prevent leishmaniasis.

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized">
<img
src="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Screenshot-2022-05-09-at-1.10.54-PM-1024x654.png"
class="wp-image-4423" loading="lazy" decoding="async"
srcset="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Screenshot-2022-05-09-at-1.10.54-PM-1024x654.png 1024w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Screenshot-2022-05-09-at-1.10.54-PM-300x192.png 300w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Screenshot-2022-05-09-at-1.10.54-PM-768x491.png 768w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Screenshot-2022-05-09-at-1.10.54-PM.png 1042w"
sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" width="768" height="491"
alt="Vector-Borne diseases screening" />
<figcaption>Urban mosquito surveillance programs in Columbia from <a
href="https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.53">Marceló-díaz C et
al.</a>.</figcaption>
</figure>

In Europe, a [pan-continental consortium
project](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.57) implemented by 42
volunteer teams from 24 countries have systematically looked for
invasive *Aedes* mosquitoes across the continent. Discovery and
monitoring pests are typically handled by government vector screening
programs, but these require huge resources making it impossible to gain
information from all geographical corners of their countries. The
ubiquitous presence of citizens with mobile devices throughout the world
made them an excellent -and free- resource to include as a new regiment
in the battle against these infectious diseases. These citizen
scientists have been mobilised by the [Mosquito Alert
project](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.54) to use an app to identify
and monitor invasive mosquitoes., and this data is also shared here.
This process established the means to create an early warning system of
invasive species from a city-to-city scale for government managed
programs that have limited resources to continental scale (see [more in
Gigablog](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/publishing-mosquito-alert-data/)).

Further demonstration of the power of citizen scientists also includes
an [article presenting a database](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.62)
of triatomine kissing bug insects that spread Chagas disease in the
Americas, 90% of the data from the US (around 5000 data points) was
collected from the [](http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004235)
[Kissing bugs and Chagas Disease in the United States community science
program](http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004235). Demonstrating
that citizens can play a key role in contributing to the sum of
scientific knowledge and filling crucial data gaps in this extremely
important area of global public health.  The use of citizen scientists
in these studies serves as an example for new inexpensive ways to carry
out myriad other such massive data collection projects.

All the articles in this series provide an enormous amount of
information that is central to the ongoing and growing fight against
infectious diseases that are carried by organisms throughout the world.
Open access, freely available, discoverable data are key to making rapid
advances in all areas of research. The contributors to this series, from
citizen scientists to independent researchers to consortium members,
have this goal in mind as they make these data available to the world
and continue this work. Dr Florence Fouque, Scientist and focal point
for vectors at TDR saying: "This is an important effort for sharing data
on vectors which are essential in the fight against vector-borne
diseases and we do hope that it will encourage the sharing of those data
more largely".

The papers from [this vector-borne diseases
series](https://doi.org/10.46471/GIGABYTE_SERIES_0002) include embedded
dynamics, such as interactive maps and embedded protocols. Additionally,
there are multilingual options for many papers that allow Portuguese and
Spanish speakers to better comprehend the implications of important work
relating to the public health of their communities.

See more in the [GBIF
webinar](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/gbif-webinar/) covering the
series.

::: {.iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/669798325?h=60fe0a7018"}
:::

Read the series here: <https://doi.org/10.46471/GIGABYTE_SERIES_0002>

**Further Reading**  
Andrade-filho JD et al. Online catalogue of the Coleção de Flebotomíneos
(FIOCRUZ/COLFLEB), a biological collection of American sand flies
(Diptera: Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) held at Fiocruz Minas, Brazil,
*Gigabyte*, 2022 <https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.52>  
  
Marceló-díaz C et al. Arbovirus vectors in municipalities with a high
risk of dengue in Cauca, Southwestern Colombia, *Gigabyte*, 2022
[ https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.53](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.53)

Južnič-zonta Ž et al. Mosquito alert: leveraging citizen science to
create a GBIF mosquito occurrence dataset, *Gigabyte*, 2022
[ https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.54](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.54)

Dos Santos Conceição M et al. Culicidae (Diptera: Culicomorpha) in the
southern Brazilian 'Ana Leuch Lozovei' collection, with notes on
distribution and diversity, *Gigabyte*, 2022
<https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.55>

Paull SH et al. Tick abundance, diversity and pathogen data collected by
the National Ecological Observatory Network, *Gigabyte*, 2022
[ https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.56](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.56)

Miranda MA et al. AIMSurv: First pan-European harmonized surveillance of
Aedes invasive mosquito species of relevance for human vector-borne
diseases, *Gigabyte*, 2022 <https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.57>

Van Bortel W et al. MODIRISK: Mosquito vectors of disease, collection,
monitoring and longitudinal data from Belgium, *Gigabyte*, 2022
<https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.58>

Deblauwe I et al. MEMO: Monitoring of exotic mosquitoes in Belgium,
*Gigabyte*, 2022
[ https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.59](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.59)

Godoy RE et al. Sand fly (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) records
in Acre, Brazil: a dataset, *Gigabyte*, 2022
<https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.60>  
  
Shimabukuro PHF et al. Occurrence records and metadata for sand flies
(Diptera, Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) collected in the lands of
indigenous people in the Brazilian Amazon, *Gigabyte*, 2022
[ https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.61](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.61)

Ceccarelli S et al. American triatomine species occurrences: updates and
novelties in the DataTri database, *Gigabyte*, 2022
<https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.62>

The post [GigaByte helping the fight against Vector-Borne diseases with
data](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/vector-borne-diseases-series/){rel="nofollow"}
appeared first on
[GigaBlog](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog){rel="nofollow"}.


Our WHO-sponsored series of articles describing biodiversity data relevant to vector-borne diseases has now been published in
<em>
 GigaByte
</em>
. This special issue presents a wide variety of data relating to the presence, spread, and diversity of organisms that are transmitting viruses, bacteria and parasites to humans.

GigaByte helping the fight against Vector-Borne diseases with data

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized">
<img
src="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/thumbnailMA-1024x611.png"
class="wp-image-4412" loading="lazy" decoding="async"
srcset="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/thumbnailMA-1024x611.png 1024w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/thumbnailMA-300x179.png 300w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/thumbnailMA-768x458.png 768w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/thumbnailMA.png 1397w"
sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" width="768" height="458" />
</figure>

*Citizen Scientists collect and share enormous amounts of data on
invasive mosquitoes from the Mosquito Alert project as part of our GBIF
and WHO-supported series on vector-borne diseases.*

Just [out in *GigaByte*](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.54) is the
latest data release from [Mosquito
Alert](http://www.mosquitoalert.com/en/project/what-is-mosquito-alert),
a citizen science system for investigating and managing disease-carrying
mosquitoes, and is part of our [WHO-sponsored
series](https://doi.org/10.46471/GIGABYTE_SERIES_0002) on vector borne
human diseases. Presenting 13,700 new database [records in the Global
Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
repository](https://doi.org/10.15470/t5a1os), all linked to photographs
submitted by citizen volunteers and validated by entomological experts
to determine if it provides evidence of the presence of any of the
mosquito vectors of top concern in Europe. This is the latest of [a new
special issue of
papers](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/vectors-of-human-diseases-series/)
presenting biodiversity data for research on human diseases health,
incentivising data sharing to fill important particular species and
geographic gaps. As big fans of [citizen science (and Mosquito
Alert)](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/citizen-smith-goes-to-nairobi-taking-citizen-science-to-the-un/),
its great to see this new data showcased in the series.

Vector-borne diseases account for more than 17% of all infectious
diseases in humans. There are large gaps in knowledge related to these
vectors, and data mobilization campaigns are required to improve data
coverage to help research on vector-borne diseases and human health. As
part of these efforts, GigaScience Press has partnered with the GBIF;
and has been supported by TDR, the Special Programme for Research and
Training in Tropical Diseases, hosted at the World Health Organization.
Through this we launched this "Vectors of human disease" thematic
series. Incentivising the sharing of this extremely important data,
Article Processing Charges have been waived to assist with the global
call for novel data. This effort has already led to the release of newly
digitised location data for over 600,000 vector specimens observed
across the Americas and Europe.

While paying credit to such a large number of volunteers, creating such
a large public collection of validated mosquito images allows this
dataset to be used to train machine-learning models for vector detection
and classification. Sharing the data in this novel manner meant the
authors of these papers had to set up a new credit system to evaluate
contributions from multiple and diverse collaborators, which included
university researchers, entomologists, and other non-academics such as
independent researchers and citizen scientists. In the [*GigaByte*
paper](https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.54) these are acknowledged
through collaborative authorship for the Mosquito Alert Digital
Entomology Network and the Mosquito Alert Community.

In one of our [Q&A's](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/tag/qa/) we ask
first author Dr Živko Južnič-Zonta from the Centre d'Estudis Avançats de
Blanes (CEAB-CSIC) in Spain some questions about this work.

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large">
<img
src="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/dd5c623449414fc88253ba0a5cd4d3e1_L.jpg"
class="wp-image-4415" loading="lazy" decoding="async"
srcset="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/dd5c623449414fc88253ba0a5cd4d3e1_L.jpg 600w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/dd5c623449414fc88253ba0a5cd4d3e1_L-300x300.jpg 300w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/dd5c623449414fc88253ba0a5cd4d3e1_L-150x150.jpg 150w"
sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" width="600" height="600" />
<figcaption>Dr Živko Južnič-Zonta</figcaption>
</figure>

**Tell us about the data being presented in the paper?**

The [Mosquito Alert dataset published on
GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/dataset/1fef1ead-3d02-495e-8ff1-6aeb01123408)
includes occurrence records of adult mosquitoes collected by citizens
through the [Mosquito Alert](http://www.mosquitoalert.com/) smartphone
app. Each record is linked to a photograph which is validated by
entomological experts to assess its species. The temporal coverage of
the dataset is from 2014 through 2021 and the spatial coverage is
worldwide. Most of the records from 2014 to 2020 are from Spain, while
starting from 2020 the coverage increased in Europe, mainly in the
Netherlands, Italy, and Hungary. Mosquito Alert is now a mature
near-real-time surveillance system of five targeted disease-vector
mosquito species of concern in the EU.

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized">
<img
src="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/gigabyte54-g001.jpg"
class="wp-image-4413" loading="lazy" decoding="async"
srcset="http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/gigabyte54-g001.jpg 805w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/gigabyte54-g001-300x237.jpg 300w, http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/gigabyte54-g001-768x607.jpg 768w"
sizes="(max-width: 805px) 100vw, 805px" width="805" height="636"
alt="Mosquito Alert data" />
</figure>

**Were there any particularly interesting or unexpected findings that
have come from this Mosquito Alert data?**

From a surveillance perspective the system has been able to detect many
appearances of *Aedes albopictus* much beyond its immediate expansion
front, like in the Spanish Autonomous Communities of
[Andalucía](https://www.um.es/analesdebiologia/numeros/36/PDF/36_2014_16.pdf)
and
[Aragón](http://www.sea-socios.com/Boletines/PDF/Boletin58/157-158BSEA58.pdf),
which happened as well within other EU countries. A major highlight was
the [first detection in
2018](http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-019-3317-y) of *Aedes japonicus*
\[the Asian bush mosquito\] in Spain, an isolated population located at
a whopping 1,300 km distance of its nearest known location in Europe.
This species was not expected to appear and thus was not targeted by any
existing surveillance; later up to 2020 the system also collaborated to
assess the distribution area of the species across Northern Spain which
was actually [much broader than
estimated](https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-021-04874-4) in 2018. As a
biodiversity feature, the expert validators have labeled as many as 28
autochtonous *Culicid* species throughout Europe in only two years.
These are only indicative suggestions because relying only on
photographs, although in some cases where field confirmation was
possible, they led to [publication of distribution
articles](http://dx.doi.org/10.6018/analesbio.40.05) broadening known
distribution of autochtonous species.

**What have been the challenges in sharing it?**

Finding the right format of author citation and setting up a credit
system to evaluate contributions from multiple and diverse
collaborators.

Fulfilling the required and recommended metadata fields in order to
build the GBIF occurrence dataset and automatize data and metadata
generation to ease future dataset update.

**What do you hope others will do with it?**

- Perform data augmentation and calibration in mosquito distribution
  models.
- Perform risk assessments, like characterization of critical areas and
  seasonal variability for disease risk transmission.
- Mosquito images can be used to train machine-learning models for
  mosquito detection and classification.
- The Mosquito Alert dataset published in GBIF is updated annually and
  thus could be used for early warning of invasive species across
  scales, from city to continental scales.
- The Mosquito Alert dataset published in GBIF is a subset of the row
  public dataset that is openly shared and updated daily on the [Zenodo
  repository](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6480745). The [Mosquito
  Alert Data
  Portal](https://mosquito-alert.github.io/metadata_public_portal)
  provides metadata of this row dataset called *reports*. Because of its
  daily update, this dataset could help to optimise vector control, as
  citizen scientists provide information about nuisance and presence of
  mosquitoes at almost real time.

**Further Reading**  
Živko Južnič-zonta, Isis Sanpera-calbet, Roger Eritja, John R.b. Palmer,
Agustí Escobar, Joan Garriga, Aitana Oltra, Alex Richter-boix, Francis
Schaffner, Alessandra Della Torre, Miguel Ángel Miranda, Marion
Koopmans, Luisa Barzon, Frederic Bartumeus Ferre, Mosquito Alert Digital
Entomology Network , Mosquito Alert Community, Mosquito alert:
leveraging citizen science to create a GBIF mosquito occurrence dataset,
Gigabyte, 2022 <https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.54>

Read the other papers in the series as they are published
here:[ https://doi.org/10.46471/GIGABYTE_SERIES_0002](https://doi.org/10.46471/GIGABYTE_SERIES_0002)

The post [Publishing Citizen Science data to fight against mosquito
borne
diseases](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog/publishing-mosquito-alert-data/){rel="nofollow"}
appeared first on
[GigaBlog](http://gigasciencejournal.com/blog){rel="nofollow"}.


<em>
 Citizen Scientists collect and share enormous amounts of data on invasive mosquitoes from the Mosquito Alert project as part of our GBIF and WHO-supported series on vector-borne diseases.
</em>
Just out in
<em>
 GigaByte
</em>
is the latest data release from Mosquito Alert, a citizen science system for investigating and managing disease-carrying mosquitoes, and is part of our WHO-sponsored series on vector borne human diseases.

Rogue Scholar Posts

Converting the Field Records of Early-20th Century Public Health Pioneer to Data

Second call (and webinar) for GigaByte’s vectors of human disease series

GigaByte helping the fight against Vector-Borne diseases with data

Publishing Citizen Science data to fight against mosquito borne diseases