7 Eco-friendly Ways to Keep Away Mosquitoes

As warmer weather approaches and winter ends, we’re all excited to get back to outdoor activities. Whether it’s hiking, backyard barbeques or just sitting on a patio, being outside is a great way to enjoy nature. But there are, of course, annoying things about warmer weather. Mosquitoes top the list of nuisances when it comes to enjoying our time outside. They also carry various harmful diseases. While it’s important to keep them away, using traditional bug spray is also hazardous because of the possible chemical reaction and damage aerosol sprays cause. But here are seven alternative eco-friendly ways to keep those mosquitoes at bay.

1. Eucalyptus and Lemon Oil

This is a great natural way to repel mosquitoes that will be chemical-free and also have a pleasant smell. Both of these oils have antiseptic properties when applied to your skin. By combining the two, you can make a strong repellant for daily use. Be sure to test it on a small area first.

2. Coffee Grounds

Mosquitoes tend to love areas where there is still water. If you can’t dry it up completely, use coffee grounds to stop them from breeding. All you have to do is sprinkle the ground coffee into the water. This will cause any eggs present to rise to the surface. They will dehydrate and be unable to hatch, thus reducing the number of mosquitoes.

3. Garlic

When you eat a lot of garlic, your pores release garlic oil. Your skin becomes protected because the oil acts as a barrier. If you don’t want to eat the garlic, you can make a crushed garlic spray and spritz it.

4. Red Cedar Mulch

Along with other naturally mosquito repellant plants, you can use red cedar mulch. You can boil the mulch chips in water and then spray your garden and exterior areas with this liquid. Because of the wood’s natural repellant chemical properties, this should have a lasting effect on getting rid of the mosquitoes.

5. Mint

Mint is another great natural herbal remedy. Get a bottle of mint extra or oil and leave it unopened for the smell to spread. You can also put it in a spray bottle and spray it around you or even on your skin. If you don’t have access to real mint, you can use mint-flavored mouthwash as a substitute. Just mix it with water in a spray bottle and spray it around your home.

6. Lavender Oil

Because of its relaxing and pleasant smell, lavender oil has many uses. This is also as effective a repellant as any of those chemical sprays but without the off-putting smell or side effects. Spray the oil around the room to keep the mosquitoes away. You can also grow lavender plants and place them around the perimeter of your yard.

7. Add Rosemary to Your Barbeque

One of the most common times that mosquitoes strike is when we’re outside trying to enjoy a nice barbeque. You can actually turn your grill into a mosquito repellant. All you have to do is add a few stalks of rosemary to your grill plate. The heat will cause the scent of the rosemary to spread and keep the mosquitoes away.

All in All

Mosquitoes are annoying insects that can ruin your experience. But there are many natural ways to get rid of mosquitoes so you can enjoy being outdoors. You don’t always need to rely on heavy, smelly chemicals to do so. You have options that can be used around your home or even on your body. By using a few simple, natural tricks, you can eliminate those pests from your home.

Sources:

7 Eco-friendly Ways to Keep Away Mosquitoes

Texas faces first case of Zika transmitted by local mosquitoes, officials say

Health officials have announced the first case of Zika transmitted by local mosquitoes in Texas, the second state in the country to find local mosquitoes apparently carrying the virus.

The tropical virus country-hopped through Latin America and the Caribbean in the last year, first arriving in the United States in the territory of Puerto Rico, before arriving in Miami, Florida. Zika can cause severe birth defects in pregnant women infected with the disease.

“We knew it was only a matter of time before we saw a Zika case spread by a mosquito in Texas,” said Dr John Hellerstedt, the state health commissioner.

Until Monday, Texas had 257 confirmed cases of Zika, though all were associated with travel or sexual transmission. Zika is most commonly spread by infected mosquitoes.

“We still don’t believe the virus will become widespread in Texas, but there could be more cases, so people need to protect themselves from mosquito bites,” Hellerstedt said. “Especially in parts of the state that stay relatively warm in the fall and winter.”

The announcement comes one week after Florida governor Rick Scott sought to quell Zika anxiety in Miami.

The governor held a press conference to announce that three miles of Miami Beach, a popular winter tourist destination, was “cleared” of active Zika transmission. Pregnant women are still advised to postpone travel to about 1.5 miles of Miami Beach, and a nearby area of Miami-Dade county called Little River.

The World Health Organization also dropped Zika from the category of “global health emergency”, instead settling in for a long fight against the disease.

However, tools to fight the mosquitoes that carry Zika remain scarce. Mosquitoes can grow resistant to pesticides, and the widespread application of common airborne sprays has prompted outcry in some places, such as Puerto Rico.

Further, alarming discoveries about the virus have continued.

For example, a study released in mid-November found some babies of Zika-infected mothers may develop microcephaly after children appear normal at birth. Children with microcephaly are born with abnormally small heads and suffer severe developmental disorders. Microcephaly is considered the most severe birth defect associated with Zika.

One Texas-based epidemiologist also criticized politicians’ focus on small geographic areas, such as Miami Beach, noting that public health officials are not surveilling for the disease, and that four out of five patients are asymptomatic.

“The idea that Zika is confined to a small, circumspect area of Miami is ridiculous,” said Dr Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. “There’s probably a lot of transmission going on in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida that we’re not aware of because we’re not really doing active surveillance, so this is not a surprise at all.”

Though Zika infection is believed to be widespread in Puerto Rico, officials said they did not expect the disease to spread as far in Texas. Many epidemiologists believe that widespread window screens and air conditioning in Texas is responsible for hindering the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.

The infected area, in Brownsville, tends to be a hotspot for mosquito-borne diseases, Hotez said, including a recent case of Chikungunya.

The city is one of the poorest in Texas. Brownsville is the southernmost city in Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico bordering the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. In Cameron County, where Brownsville is located, almost half of children live in poverty, according to the Texas Tribune – the highest rate in the state.

Texas faces first case of Zika transmitted by local mosquitoes, officials say

Mosquitoes modified to only give birth to males in bid to wipe out malaria

It is hoped that if this could be replicated in the wild, the technique would in the end lead to the malaria-carrying mosquito population to die out inside a couple of generations.

Dr Nikolai Windbichler, a lead researcher from the Division of Existence Sciences at Imperial School London, stated: “What is most promising about our final results is that they are self-sustaining.

“When modified mosquitoes are introduced, males will begin to produce largely sons, and their sons will do the exact same, so essentially the mosquitoes carry out the operate for us.”

Though scientists have bred infertile mosquitos before, this is the very first time they have been capable to manipulate the sex ratios of mosquito populations.

It is only the female mosquito that bites as it feeds on blood to get the protein it requirements for their eggs.

The scientists launched the genetically modified mosquitoes to 5 caged wild-kind mosquito populations. In four of the 5 cages, this eliminated the complete population inside of six generations, since of the lack of females.

Malaria is one particular of Africa’s deadliest diseases, killing on regular one particular youngster each 60 seconds. Globally, there are a lot more than 200 million circumstances per year and much more than 650,000 deaths, largely in African kids underneath 5.

Considering that 2000, improved prevention and manage measures have reduced international malaria mortality charges by 42 per cent, but the ailment stays a prevalent killer as mosquitoes grow to be increasingly resistant to insecticides and malaria parasites resistant to medicines.

Dr Roberto Galizi from the Division of Life Sciences at Imperial University London, stated: “The investigation is even now in its early days, but I am actually hopeful that this new method could in the end lead to a cheap and effective way to eliminate malaria from entire areas. Our aim is to enable folks to reside freely with out the threat of this deadly condition.”

Throughout the study, published in the journal Nature Communications, scientists inserted a DNA cutting enzyme known as I-PpoI into Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes.

In typical reproduction, half of the sperm bear the X chromosome and will create female offspring, and the other half bear the Y chromosome and produce male offspring.

The enzyme utilized by the researchers operates by cutting the DNA of the X chromosome for the duration of manufacturing of sperm, so that nearly no functioning sperm carry the female X chromosome.

As a result the offspring of the genetically modified mosquitoes was nearly solely male.

Mosquitoes modified to only give birth to males in bid to wipe out malaria