Mapping a city to detect Zika mosquito hotspots. Fashion accessories infused with a long-acting mosquito repellant. A special soap that keeps mosquitoes away. These are among the winning ideas from a Johns Hopkins University hackathon that drew participants from Baltimore to Brazil looking for ways to help prevent the spread of the Zika virus.

Johns Hopkins’ Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design, housed in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Jhpiego, a global health nonprofit and university affiliate, convened the weekend Emergency Zika Design Challenge with a single, strategic focus: to come up with innovative ideas “to prevent disease through protection from mosquito bites.”

“This is just the start,” said Youseph Yazdi, executive director of CBID and a co-organizer of the hackathon. “Every team had kernels of great ideas, but they need more refinement. Jhpiego will be providing the resources for the next three months for the teams to get together and refine their ideas.”

Excerpted from The Hub at Johns Hopkins University.