A digital repository of samples from arthropod vectors

Sustained by urbanization, globalization and climate change, infectious diseases transmitted by arthropod vectors, such as mosquitoes, ticks and sandflies, are emerging or resurging in Europe, including Italy. There are limited therapeutic treatments and vaccines for most arthropod-borne pathogens, thus monitoring and control of vectors remains the most-effective prevention strategy. Supported by a country-wide initiative that aims at providing strategic guidance for preventing vector-borne diseases in Italy, including suirveillance and control initiatives that results in the acquistion of a large number of field samples, we conceived a digital repository of samples from arthropod vectors and their metadata to promote their sharing among the scientific community. We built a relational database called RAV-IT, accessible at https://mosqit.unipv.it/. Currently, RAV-IT aggregates seventeen Italian institutions and hosts nearly two thousand vector samples and their metadata, which can be viewed and requested for research purposes. RAV-IT is interactive and can accept further samples from any users. RAV-IT is a non-profit repository that is expected to enhance resource sharing for research on arthropod vectors.