Real-time malaria detection in the Amazon rainforest via drone-collected eDNA and portable qPCR

Autor

Andrea Desiderato
Christian Geckeler
Claus Melvad
Elvira Mächler
Florencia Sangermano
Frederik Bendix Thostrup
Guglielmo Murari
Jia Jin Marc Chang
Kristy Deiner
Luca Montemartini
Mailyn Adriana Gonzalez Herrera
Marina Mura
Martina Lüthi
Meret Jucker
Michele Gregorini
Nicolás D. Franco-Sierra
Stefano Mintchev
Steffen Kirchgeorg
Tobias Schindler
Yin Cheong Aden Ip

Resumen

Zoonotic malaria risk at human-wildlife-environment interfaces requires surveillance that integrates signals from reservoirs, vectors and the environment. We coupled a drone-based environmental DNA (eDNA) canopy swabbing approach with portable quantitative PCR (qPCR) to detect Plasmodium DNA in situ during a 24-h field exercise in the Amazon rainforest. Drone-lowered sterile swabs into the canopy, which were then extracted and subjected to a multiplex pan-Plasmodium assay targeting five human-infecting Plasmodium species (limit of detection 0.2 parasites μL −1 ). Of 12 samples (10 canopy swabs, 2 field blanks; 13 total runs including repeats), one canopy swab amplified in duplicate (Ct = 28.7 and 29.23), while positive controls amplified as expected (Ct = 30.82 and 31.11) and all other environmental samples and blanks were negative. Passive acoustics confirmed co-occurring howler monkeys (Alouatta spp.), a known reservoir, whereas Anopheles mosquitoes were not recovered from concurrently deployed insect canopy traps. The end-to-end workflow, from drone deployment to qPCR diagnostic readout, averaged 1.5 h per assay, without requiring cold-chain logistics. This proof-of-concept demonstrates that intracellular parasite DNA can be recovered from canopy surfaces and read out in real-time, providing upstream, landscape-level intelligence to guide targeted vector surveillance in remote settings. Our approach operationalizes One Health by integrating environmental, wildlife, and vector signals within a single technological platform, representing a paradigm shift from reactive, sector-specific surveillance to proactive, integrated pathogen intelligence across the human-animal-environment interface.

autores

http://vivoweb.org/ontology/core#FacultyMember
Pulido Santacruz, Paola

fecha de publicación

2025-12-1

Área temática

Salud y bienestar

Edición

21

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Real-time malaria detection in the Amazon rainforest via drone-collected eDNA and portable qPCR Artículo académico

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