意大利APP提供實時蚊子熱點

Smartphones are being used to combat the dreaded mosquito in Italy, with a new app that tracks the location of the blood-sucking pests.

意大利人很怕蚊子，於是用上智能手機來抵禦蚊害：一種新開發的應用程序將能追蹤到這種吮血物種的形跡。

The free app, called ZanzaMapp, gathers information from the public in order to highlight hot spots of mozzie activity in real time. The mosquito heat map will allow people to avoid areas with high concentrations of bugs, and help authorities to better direct pest control efforts, the project's website notes. It also enables users to upload photos so that experts can determine which species have been found and where.

這是一款免費應用，名爲“ZanzaMapp”，它可以蒐集公共場所信息，然後實時給出蚊蟲猖獗的熱點。項目官網稱，這些蚊子熱點地圖能幫人們避開蚊蟲集中區，也有助於政府更有效地實施滅蚊措施。它還允許用戶上傳自己拍到的蚊蟲照片，便於專家幫忙識別蚊子種類及其活動範圍。

The app's creator, expectant father Cesare Bianchi from Rome's Sapienza University, says he was driven by a lack of information on how to deal with new threats such as the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which doctors believe causes severe birth defects.

該應用程序的發明者是羅馬大學的切薩雷·比安奇。即將爲人父的比安奇表示，面對依靠蚊子傳播的寨卡病毒等新威脅，相關應對措施卻存在信息缺乏的問題，他於是萌生了創建這個應用的想法。醫學界認爲寨卡病毒會導致嚴重的新生兒缺陷。

"I was searching for a place that was as safe as possible from the risk of Zika", he says. "I realised there's little practical information on how to manage the presence of mosquitoes." The app includes tips for making places less attractive to the insects, such as removing stagnant water.

他表示，“我一直在找一個最不容易受寨卡病毒威脅的地方。然後我意識到，在定位蚊子的問題上，相關實用信息幾乎沒有。”這款應用裏還有各種小貼士，告訴人們降低蚊蟲滋生的辦法，比如周圍不要有積水。

In March, the World Health Organisation warned that European countries may be at risk of a Zika outbreak, with the widespread tiger mosquito capable of transmitting the virus. In 2007, tiger mosquitoes were blamed for an outbreak in northern Italy of the chikungunya virus, more commonly seen in tropical regions.

今年3月，世界衛生組織曾向歐洲國家發出預警：寨卡病毒可能肆虐歐洲，而廣泛存在的虎斑蚊是傳播寨卡病毒的禍首。2007年，意大利北部曾爆發基孔肯亞病毒，原因也是虎斑蚊的猖獗。基孔肯亞病毒常見於熱帶地區。