USAID Unveils 5 New Winners of Tech Challenge to Address Zika, Future Outbreaks

The U.S. Agency for International Development plans to award $3.3 million to five additional winners of a challenge started in search of ideas to help mitigate the spread of Zika virus and address future infectious disease outbreaks.

USAID said Wednesday new Combating Zika and Future Threats Grand Challenge selections include Vayu, whose team will use unmanned aerial vehicles to send medical supplies to remote villages and bring back laboratory samples to medical facilities.

WeRobotics will work with the Food and Agricultural Organization/International Atomic Energy Agency to release sterile mosquitoes from UAVs, USAID added

The team of Dimagi and the Arnhold Institute for Global Health will build platform based on predictive algorithm technology to protect communities from becoming disease hot spots, the agency noted.

Real Impact Analytics will monitor population movement to identify outbreak-prone areas while the International Society for Infectious Diseases will help provide real-time mapping of disease transmission risk.

USAID launched the grand challenge in April 2016 to award up to $30 million in funds and the agency chose an initial group of 21 winners in August 2016 out of approximately 900 ideas that were submitted within two months.