Fighting rabies with pictures of dogs

Rabies is a disease that has not been documented in Austrian animals since 2007. This deadly disease is still present in other countries – and is generally widespread. 150 countries It is for every year Tens of thousands dead responsible.

99 percent Infection arises through contact with infected dogs. Therefore, vaccination is considered the most effective way to combat it. Researchers at Washington State University have now developed an app in which dogs can… Tanzania rabies zone Use of facial recognition should be monitored: with program If animals are photographed – it will tell you whether the dog has already been vaccinated.

A cheap solution to a big problem

“When carrying out mass vaccinations, one of the biggest problems we face is knowing which dogs have been vaccinated and which have not. Microchips are very expensive and owners can remove the collars. We developed this application to see if facial recognition could “It works, which is promising.” Felix Lancaster In broadcast. Technically it works like this: one image Vaccinated dog It is stored in a database. If the same dog is photographed again, something happens in the background Database query: A similar dog is searched using probability calculations. This is shown to the app user, who can determine if it is truly the animal.

One problem at the moment is that the app exists Internet connection needs. However, an offline solution is currently being worked on. The application method could also be used to treat other species and animal diseases in the future.