As the use of unmanned aerial vehicles becomes increasingly mainstream, innovative uses of drones are springing up across sectors and continents. Researchers on the island of Borneo are using a small fixed-wing drone to track the spread of Plasmodium knowlesi, a parasite known to cause malaria in macaque monkeys and humans. The drones enable researchers to map land use, which combines with GPS tracking of humans and monkeys, allowing them to map the spread of the disease.
In recent years, public health officials in Malaysia have seen a rise in the number of humans infected with the parasite, which is spread via mosquitos from macaques to people. By using a small drone called a senseFly eBee to map the communities where cases of infection occur, researchers hope to discover the cause of this increase in the spread of malaria. The drone creates maps and digital surface models of the land and vegetation surrounding communities where the parasite has turned up in humans. These maps are then combined with GPS data procured from locals who carry GPS tracking devices and macaques fitted with GPS collars. The goal is to isolate locations where humans and macaques are most likely to interact, and why both species are drawn to those particular areas.
Until recently, the parasite had only been seen to infect adult men who had spent time in the forest, easily accounting for the spread of the infection. Yet the disease has now been seen to affect children as well as whole families — people who are not spending time in the forest, and, thus, people whose infection is more difficult to explain. So far, the drone footage has indicated that cornfields tend to be points of interaction between humans and macaques, and that the clearing of forests might be forcing the monkeys to move closer to people’s homes travel.
A combination of standard photography and infrared sensors is allowing researchers to collect more data more quickly than ever before, bypassing the use of satellites and time-intensive combing through the results by research assistants. Drones also cost less and allow results in much finer detail. The healthcare implications of this use are clear: if drones can be utilized to track the spread of diseases, they can help to stem infection rates — fighting some of the most pernicious illnesses that plague the world. This is just the newest in an ever-growing list of applications for drones that will create its own series of regulatory, legal and ethical issues, but also another example of the vast potential drones have to reshape the problems we face on a global scale.
