Sensor Project 2022

We are here today at SAFE (Stability at Altered Forest Ecosystem, Benta Wawasan Menggaris Estate.

"By recording the sounds that animals make, we can detect changes in wildlife that could impact human disease risk; for example, tracking the changes in frequency of animal calls to identify mass mortality in wildlife due to a disease outbreak," said Dr Kimberly Fornace from University of Glasgow.

"Acoustic data could be used to detect changes in the location or behaviours of animals in areas where zoonotic diseases (like malaria, yellow fever, rabies, trypanosomiasis and Rift Valley fever) exist and could pose a risk to humans and animals.

"While acoustic monitoring won't replace existing field-based methods used to track disease risk, we believe it could be a novel and useful tool when used in combination with current methods," Fornace added.

Rainforest sound-check to track infectious disease risks draws interest | New Straits Times KOTA KINABALU: Sounds recorded using microphones could be used to help track infectious disease risks in the rainforests and other landscapes.