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: In recent years, there have been numerousreports of species of invasive predatory flatworms(Geoplanidae) across several islands of the Caribbean.Terrestrial planarians and their cocoons are believed tobe dispersed to new territories mainly through planttrades; the worms/cocoons may be accidentallytransmitted in the soil of potted plants or within thefoliage. The exotic terrestrial flatworm, Bipaliumkewense, was first reported in Jamaica in 1897 [1]. Later,the suspected sightings of Platydemus manokwari andBipalium vagum [2] were documented, in 2019 and 2020,respectively. Terrestrial flatworms were collected as partof a wider study of the epidemiology and transmission ofzoonotic parasite, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, inJamaica.
Elsevier is a Netherlands-based academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include a number of top-tiered international journals the online citation database Scopus, the SciVal tool for measuring research performance. This publishing house works across all areas of STEM and its products and services also include digital tools for data management, instruction, research analytics and assessment. The company runs several workshops aimed at capacity building with their stakeholders and users.
Vector-borne diseases have since the 17th century been the leading cause of death by disease more than any other causes combined, even preventing development in the tropics (Gubler 1998). Of all insect vectors, Aedes aegypti proves to be the deadliest as it is the primary vector of the four most notorious vector-borne diseases – chikungunya (chik-V), Zika (Zik-V), dengue fever and yellow fever viruses. Control of the spread of Aedesborne diseases is primarily reliant on the control of the vector responsible for their spread. Traditionally, vector control relied on environmental hygiene and the elimination of breeding sites (Gubler 1998), shifting only in the 1980s to the use of synthetic chemicals in the form of carbamate, organochloride, organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides (Norris, et al. 2015). However, the evolution of Aedes aegypti resistance to synthetic chemicals have made control of the spread of the vector and its diseases increasingly difficult. This led to the exploration of innovative and alternative methods in the control of Aedes aegypti.
The FORECAST Grand Innovation Challenge 2022 (GIC) is to develop a feasible innovation (prototype/product/concept) that will revolutionize the management, protection, and use of water resources in the Caribbean.
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