Mosquito-killing 'Sweaty' Billboard is Helping Fight the Zika Virus in Brazil

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently stated that the Zika virus is a global public health emergency and requires an urgent answer. To help to solve this problem, the advertising agency NBS and the out-of-home agency Posterscope, united efforts to create the Mosquito Killer Billboard, an out-of-home panel equipped with technology that attracts and kills the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.

A device was installed on the panel which emits a solution into the air containing lactic acid – which reproduces the smell expelled by the human sweat – and also CO2, which reproduces human breathing. The combination of these two substances attracts the mosquito at a distance of up to 2.5 miles. To enhance this attraction, fluorescent lights were installed at the base and at the top of the panel, helping to attract the mosquito. As the Aedes flies, on average, 4 feet above the ground, this is an ideal media to capture and kill the mosquito.

All the technology and settings information is available online (http://www.mosquitokillerbillboard.com) under a Creative Commons NonCommercial-Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International. This means that anyone can download and reproduce it in any city of the world.