Minas Gerais deploys drones to map 497,000 hectares in fight against Aedes aegypti

The Minas Gerais State Health Secretariat completed the second monitoring cycle of its VigiDrones program, using unmanned aerial vehicles to survey urban areas for mosquito‑breeding sites. About 497,000 hectares – roughly 696,000 football fields – were mapped, revealing more than 334,000 points of interest.

The state has invested roughly R$30 million in the initiative, conducting flights based on municipal indicators. In the Jequitinhonha health macro‑region, 11,000 hectares were covered, involving 31 municipalities, and over 5,200 Aedes aegypti breeding sites have been eliminated or treated. Officials highlighted that waste disposal and irregular water storage are the main risk factors, and that drone imagery has improved precision in targeting households.

The program is credited with contributing to lower dengue, Zika and chikungunya case numbers and the lowest historic lethality rate in the state, while continuing other measures such as expanded testing and the Wolbachia method.