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7 Ways to Keep Mosquitoes and the Zika Virus at Bay This Summer

By Nicole Levy | May 25, 2016 9:17am
 Ward off mosquitoes that could carry the Zika virus this summer with repellents like DEET and permethrin.
Ward off mosquitoes that could carry the Zika virus this summer with repellents like DEET and permethrin.
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Shutterstock/mrfiza

New Yorkers may be looking forward to enjoying this Memorial Day weekend beach-season weather outdoors, but they definitely won't be welcoming the mosquitoes that come along with it.

With the global spread of the Zika virus — a disease that can cause serious birth defects in the children of infected mothers and is transmitted primarily through biting mosquitoes —  New Yorkers will be particularly anxious to avoid the insects this summer.

So far, the 86 cases of Zika reported in New York City were all contracted while traveling abroad, officials say.

Asked about the probability of the virus establishing itself locally, Columbia University virologist and professor of epidemiology Dr. Stephen Morse said, "It’s a theoretical possibility that it could happen, but I think it’s very, very unlikely here."

While the range of the mosquito species Aedes albopictus — cousin to the species carrying the virus in the Caribbean and Latin America — may cover the New York City area, the Big Apple has few defensive advantages, Morse said.

"We have the good fortune not to have the best climate for these mosquitoes to establish themselves," he said. "We're also lucky because after the wake-up call of West Nile virus, the city health department ...is doing everything possible to maintain the appropriate mosquito control.”

The city will be spending $21 million over the next three years to fortify its already robust mosquito testing and control system with new traps and more human testing, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in April. 

Meanwhile, the state is in the process of rolling out a six-step Zika action plan that involves distributing larvicide tablets, monitoring the mosquito population and, as of Wednesday, launching a public awareness campaign.

Those measures shouldn't keep New Yorkers from taking their own precautions, though.

"It's a good idea when you're going any place where you might encounter biting insects or ticks to use repellents regularly and reapply them because they do come off," Morse said.

After asking the virologist and expert naturalist Mike Feller, a former New York City Parks Department employee who still spends plenty of time outdoors, for their repellents of choice, we rounded up a list of repellent ingredients and other products that'll keep the blood suckers away.

DEET

"DEET is the most popular and the most widely used. Some of my travel medicine colleagues ... like a brand called Ultrathon," said Morse, who uses it himself. "It's delivered in a way that may make it last a little longer on the skin."

Developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the Army in the 1940s and introduced to the general public in 1957, DEET can provide up to 10 hours of protection, depending on its concentration.

While the American Academy of Pediatrics advises that DEET not be used on children younger than 2 months, it recommends concentrations between 10 and 30 percent for older kids.

A Consumer Reports study published last month found that OFF! Deep Woods Insect Repellent VIII, the formula for which is 25 percent DEET, kept Aedes mosquitoes from biting for eight hours.

► Picaridin

A synthetic created by the Bayer Corporation in the 1980s, picaridin is an active ingredient that Feller likes to spray on his legs when he's grilling or doing yard work around dusk. It takes more frequent re-application than DEET, he said, but many consumers prefer it because it's odorless and it isn't greasy.

Consumer Reports found that, among the products it tested, repellents containing 20 percent picaridin were the most effective. Sawyer Picaridin and Natrapel 8 Hour kept the biting insects at bay for eight hours.

► IR3535

You can find this active ingredient in Avon's Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard products. Some studies have found it provides four to six hours of protection from mosquitoes.

Oil of lemon eucalyptus

"When my kids went away to camp, I started sending them with mixes that contained lemon eucalyptus oil as an alternative to DEET," Feller said. Repellents with a 40 percent concentration of the oil's active ingredient, PMD, have found to be effective for six hours.

Consumer Reports found that Repel's Lemon Eucalyptus spray, containing 30 percent lemon eucalyptus, held off mosquitoes for seven and a half hours.

The FDA says that oil of lemon eucalyptus should not be used on children under the age of 3.

Permethrin

Unlike the repelling agents above, permethrin is an insecticide that can be applied to clothing, shoes, netting and camping gear. It kills not only mosquitoes, but ticks, chiggers and mites.

"I like to have my field clothing pre-treated," Feller said. "I take them outside, I spray them down, I let them dry overnight and then they’re good for six weeks," even through a couple of wash cycles.

► Pyrethrin Lanterns

You don't necessarily have to wear your repellent. ThermaCell lanterns release allethrin, a synthetic version of a chemical that occurs naturally in chrysanthemum flowers. The lanterns use butane cartridges to heat mats saturated with the allethrin, which then rises into the area to create an bug-deflecting field.

Carbon-dioxide mosquito trap

Mosquitoes are attracted to the carbon dioxide that mammals exhale, so you can buy propane or electricity-powered traps that release the molecule in vapor form to lure them in.

"Whether they’re more attractive than live animals like us is not clear," Morse said.

And, as he put it, "they're not inexpensive." Prices can run as high as $1,000.