A team in Waterloo, Ont. has created a device that it says will help in the global fight against the Zika virus.
A solution in the device releases a scent that lures female mosquitos, creating an artificial breeding zone and enticing them to lay eggs. Once the eggs are laid, they are then drained into filters that kill them before hatching.
The team at Maxtech Consumers Products Ltd. has spent seven years developing the device in hopes of international deployment of the product.
鈥淎fter 21 days the reduction in the mosquito population is drastic,鈥� said Mark Smith, project manager for Maxtech.
According to the company, the device is chemical free and safe for the environment. The team was originally hoping to be able to donate the device to Brazil ahead of the Summer Olympics, but were unable to due to a lengthy approval process.
The company has now decided to donate hundreds of boxes of the device, worth about $50,000, to the state of Florida, in hopes of helping the state鈥檚 local government in its fight against the virus. Florida has seen 40 cases of the Zika virus so far, and there are fears the number could rise because of an incoming tropical storm.
鈥淭hey can distribute to schools, they could distribute to playgrounds and they could distribute to people who can鈥檛 afford them for their backyards,鈥� said Kacee Vasudeva, CEO of Maxtech.
Maxtech Consumer Products says its goal is to prevent as many people as possible from getting sick or from contracting microcephaly, a birth defect that results in a significantly smaller head. According to the , microcephaly occurs when a baby鈥檚 brain has not properly developed or has stopped growing and can cause seizures and developmental delays.
鈥淲e strongly believe that one child born with microcephaly is too much,鈥� said Vasudeva.
The company鈥檚 next goal is to continue working to get the device cleared for use in other areas, such as South America, that have been hit hard by the Zika virus.
