Puppies and Scientists Team Up Against Zika and Other Diseases | Expedition Raw

Oh yeah, the puppies are absolutely critical to the research. Okay, you hi puppy! We are collecting blood-sucking creatures like fleas and mosquitoes because they transmit disease to humans, like the D virus, Zika virus, Bubonic plague, or Bonella.

So, one of the most fun parts about this expedition is that we get to meet all sorts of great kids, and they quickly bring us to all the puppies and nice dogs in the village. I'm now known as the flea hunter of the Amazon, and I'm a very hairy person. So sometimes, you see a flea running through your hair; it's a little bit disgusting.

"Hurry up! All up here, look at these at the top of her B!" Okay, that's why I really try to have Nick collect as many fleas as possible, and I stick to the mosquito captures.

"Come on, dude, these are getting on me as we speak!" Oh, right here for the mosquito captures. Nick and I will just walk into the jungle and stand there, waiting for mosquitoes to land on each of us. Then we suck them off of each other with aspirators.

"May was trapped in your body here?" I know, I'm the perfect bait. On my worst day, I have probably received 500 bites just myself. We will use DNA sequencing to look at thousands of these insects, and each one will likely have unique bacteria living inside them that has not been discovered previously.

"One that's just too full of blood to even like fly!" I hope that we can figure out how the bacteria that live in these creatures are distributed across the Amazon, and hopefully that information will help us better predict which communities are most at risk for future outbreaks of disease.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to putting my finger up a water buck anus; sorry buddy, jeez!" When you get a fecal sample, you don't mess around; you just want to be as thorough as possible.