Meet The Guardian Toad, an Innovative Development Aiming to Reduce the Proliferation of Dengue Mosquitoes

May. 15, 2024

This year, Peru is historically facing the worst crisis of dengue. Almost 80% of the population in the most affected areas does not have access to clean water, forcing people to collect water in plastic containers from tanker trucks that distribute it from house to house.

Unfortunately, despite the government recommendations, these plastic containers are not adequately covered. It is in these circumstances that mosquitoes take advantage to reproduce.

Since mosquitoes can only lay their eggs in still water, we asked ourselves: what if we put that water in motion? That’s how we developed The Guardian Toad: an autonomous device, small enough to move within water containers, eliminating the need for batteries or electricity, as many affected areas lack these services.

We received inputs from two professionals from the country’s most prestigious universities for the research and development of The Guardian Toad, A device that achieved a 92% protection rate against the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.