Smartphones are being used to combat the dreaded mosquito in Italy, with a new app that tracks the location of the blood-sucking pests.

意大利人很怕蚊子，于是用智能手机来抵御蚊害：一种新开发的应用程序将能追踪到这种吮血物种的形迹。

The free app, called ZanzaMapp, gathers information from the public in order to highlight hot spots of mozzie activity in real time. The mosquito heat map will allow people to avoid areas with high concentrations of bugs, and help authorities to better direct pest control efforts, the project’s website notes. It also enables users to upload photos so that experts can determine which species have been found and where.

这是一款免费应用，名为“ZanzaMapp”，它可以搜集公共场所信息，然后实时给出蚊虫猖獗的热点。项目官网称，这些蚊子热点地图能帮人们避开蚊虫集中区，也有助于政府更有效地实施灭蚊措施。它还允许用户上传自己拍到的蚊虫照片，便于专家帮忙识别蚊子种类及其活动范围。

The app’s creator, expectant father Cesare Bianchi from Rome’s Sapienza University, says he was driven by a lack of information on how to deal with new threats such as the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which doctors believe causes severe birth defects.

该应用程序的发明者是罗马大学的切萨雷·比安奇。即将为人父的比安奇表示，面对依靠蚊子传播的寨卡病毒等新威胁，相关应对措施却存在信息缺乏的问题，于是他萌生了创建这个应用的想法。医学界认为寨卡病毒会导致严重的新生儿缺陷。

I was searching for a place that was as safe as possible from the risk of Zika, he says. "I realised there’s little practical information on how to manage the presence of mosquitoes." The app includes tips for making places less attractive to the insects, such as removing stagnant water.

他表示，“我一直在找一个最不容易受寨卡病毒威胁的地方。然后我意识到，在定位蚊子的问题上，相关实用信息几乎没有。”这款应用里还有各种小贴士，告诉人们降低蚊虫滋生的办法，比如周围不要有积水。

In March, the World Health Organisation warned that European countries may be at risk of a Zika outbreak, with the widespread tiger mosquito capable of transmitting the virus. In 2007, tiger mosquitoes were blamed for an outbreak in northern Italy of the chikungunya virus, more commonly seen in tropical regions.

今年3月，世界卫生组织曾向欧洲国家发出预警：寨卡病毒可能肆虐欧洲，而广泛存在的虎斑蚊是传播寨卡病毒的祸首。2007年，意大利北部曾爆发基孔肯亚病毒，原因也是虎斑蚊的猖獗。基孔肯亚病毒常见于热带地区。