Digitization PEN: Adding a world-class flea collection to the Terrestrial Parasite Tracker network

寄生虫对人类健康、畜牧业生产和野生动物保护具有全球性影响。建立关于寄生虫宿主偏好、季节活动和地理范围的强大数据集可以帮助科学家和公共卫生专业人员了解和预测疾病传播模式;然而，这些评估所需的大部分数据只能通过博物馆收藏获得。该项目的主要目标是从卡内基自然历史博物馆（CMNH）世界级的跳蚤和相关寄生虫收集中提取这些数据。作为陆地寄生虫跟踪专题收集网络（TPT TCN）的一部分，高质量的标本图像和宿主/地点数据将被捕获、数字化并通过公共数据门户共享。这将使昆虫学家、流行病学家和其他研究人员能够在病媒和其宿主物种之间建立必要的联系。反过来，了解这些联系将支持未来对昆虫传播疾病的经济和健康风险的评估。CMNH的Robert Traub跳蚤收藏是世界上最大和最精心策划的哺乳动物寄生虫收藏之一，在60，596个载玻片上安装了74，897个标本，其中4，615个相关生殖器解剖。本项目将使用专为病理学实验室开发的自动载玻片扫描技术，有效地捕获整个载玻片和标本图像。然后，这些图像将与幻灯片标签和Traub实地工作日志中的数字化主机和位置数据相关联。该项目将使陆地寄生虫追踪器TCN的蚤目标本记录增加五倍以上，并完成跳蚤科的代表性。这将是一个有价值的数据集和图像资源，不仅为TPT TCN和流行病学研究，但一般的系统研究蚤目。通过在线数据门户网站传播这些数据，包括iDigBio.org、节肢动物共生生物群收集网和全球生物多样性信息设施。 广泛的数字访问将使世界各地的研究人员和诊断人员能够访问宿主-寄生虫关系的巨大数据库，并将他们的标本与具有可靠物种级别鉴定的高质量标本图像进行比较。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Parasitic insects have a global impact on human health, livestock production, and wildlife conservation. Building robust datasets of parasites’ host preferences, seasonal activity, and geographic range can help scientists and public health professionals understand and predict patterns of disease transmission; however, much of the data needed for these assessments is accessible only through museum collections. The primary goal of this project is to extract this data from a world-class collection of fleas and associated parasites at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH). As part of the Terrestrial Parasite Tracker Thematic Collections Network (TPT TCN), high-quality specimen images and host/locality data will be captured, digitized, and shared via public data portals. This will allow entomologists, epidemiologists, and other researchers to make essential connections between disease vectors and their host species. In turn, understanding these connections will support future assessments of economic and health risks from insect-vectored disease. The Robert Traub flea collection at CMNH is one of the largest and most meticulously curated collections of mammal parasites in the world, with 74,897 specimens mounted under glass on 60,596 glass slides with 4,615 associated genitalic dissections. This project will use automated slide scanning technology developed for pathology laboratory use to capture whole-slide and specimen images efficiently. These images will then be linked with digitized host and locality data from both slide labels and Traub’s fieldwork logs. This project will more than quintuple the Siphonaptera specimen records for the Terrestrial Parasite Tracker TCN and complete its representation of flea families. This will represent a valuable dataset and image resource not just for TPT TCN and epidemiology research, but for systematic research on Siphonaptera in general. Disseminating this data through the online data portals, including iDigBio.org, Symbiota Collection of Arthropods Network (SCAN), and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Broad digital access will enable researchers and diagnosticians worldwide to access an enormous database of host-parasite relationships as well as to compare their specimens to high-quality specimen images with reliable species-level identifications.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.