West Nile Bug Repellent Consumer Tips

Consumer Tips

In media coverage of CR's "West Nile disease" report, news outlets may reproduce the following consumer tips with the credit line: Consumer Reports, May 2003, www.ConsumerReports.org.

Safe use of insect repellents

Despite a generally good safety record, the effective mosquito repellent known as deet should be used with care. Over the years, there have been scattered reports of severe neurological effects, mostly involving children. In areas affected by West Nile virus, the risk of adverse effects from deet, including minor skin reactions, is almost certainly much lower than the risk of catching the potentially devastating disease. To use deet safely, use it correctly:

Don't use a stronger product than you need. Products with higher concentrations of deet may be appropriate for adults for prolonged protection in an area where bugs are known to carry disease. Lower concentrations of deet may offer adequate protection for short outings or low-risk situations.
Follow the application instructions on the product. Using more than the specified amount won't give you extra protection but may increase your risk.
Don't apply deet near eyes or mouth, or on broken skin.
Don't apply deet under clothing.
When you come back inside, wash the repellent off your skin.
Take precautions with young children. Don't apply deet to infants under 2 months of age. Don't let a young child apply or handle the product, and don't apply repellent on a child's hands. Experts say deet concentrations of up to 30% are safe for adults and for children over the age of 2 months.

Protecting your house and yard against mosquitoes

Mosquitoes are drawn to muddy, murky bodies of water.
Keep your rain gutters scrupulously clean.
Don't allow water to accumulate for more than a few days in any container, including birdbaths, dog bowls, swimming pool covers, saucers, wading pools, and wheelbarrows.
Indoors, if you see a mosquito, kill it immediately.
Dogs and cats are not likely to transmit West Nile disease.

Know your local ticks

With more than 18,000 cases reported in 2002, Lyme disease is the most commonly reported of the dozens of known insect-transmitted illnesses in the U.S.
Carried by the black-legged tick (formerly called the deer tick), Lyme disease is highly concentrated in a few heavily wooded regions - the Northeast and parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota. It is rare or nonexistent elsewhere.
Ticks also transmit the potentially deadly Rocky Mountain spotted fever as well as ehrlichiosis and babesiosis, two flulike illnesses that can make susceptible people severely ill.

Preventing tick bites

If you live in an endemic area, take these steps to avoid tick bites:

Keep the part of the yard that you use for rest and recreation as clear and dry as possible.
Rake leaves from around shrubs, walls, and fences.
Clear overgrown brush.
Keep the lawn mowed.
If you live next to a woodland, put a strip of bark mulch or gravel several feet wide between the woods and your lawn.
Keep yourself and your pets out of brushy areas during prime tick season.
Wear long pants, preferably light-colored ones, so you can see any ticks that climb on to them.
Tuck your pants into your socks.
Several deet-based insect repellents work against ticks as well as mosquitoes. In addition, you can spray your clothing (but not your skin) with an insecticide containing permethrin.
After a day outdoors, check your body for ticks. Check your pets, too. If you find a tick, grasp it firmly with a tweezers as close to the skin as possible and slowly but firmly pull it out.

Recognize symptoms

Lyme disease:

The first symptom is not always the familiar bull's-eye rash.
Other symptoms can include a flulike illness even though it's not flu season, sudden arthritis in the large joints, sudden sciatica-like pain, facial palsy or abnormal heart rhythm.
Prompt treatment with antibiotics usually cures Lyme disease.

Rocky Mountain spotted fever:

This tick-borne bacterial illness exists throughout the U.S., especially in the southern states. It typically starts with fever, nausea, vomiting and a severe headache, followed by a pink, spotted rash on the wrists, forearms, and ankles.
Prompt treatment with antibiotics is essential to avoid serious complications.

MAY 2003
Consumers Union

View Files Sorted By Office: Consumers Union OPI, New York - Washington DC Office
West Coast Regional Office - Southwest Regional Office - Consumer Policy Institute

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