Al Hoffer’s Pest Termite & Lawn – South Florida

Al Hoffer’s Pest Termite & Lawn – South Florida

Al Hoffer’s Pest Termite & Lawn services has been providing superior pest management  and lawn care across South Florida since 1975! We offer Florida pest inspections, lawn care, and termite control in addition to our self service center. With a Self service center in Melbourne. Our South Florida“Do-It-Yourself” Pest & Lawn Care retail store offers professional grade pest control and lawn care products, making it easy for you. We are devoted to constant customer satisfaction and our employees are trained and licensed to the highest degree by the state of Florida.

PHONE NUMBERS
Toll Free:	866-923-2847
Brevard:	321-752-5504
Indian River:	772-589-8628
St. Lucie:	772-873-1404
Palm Beach:	561-274-8885
Broward:	954-753-1222
ONLINE FORM
Online Contact Form
CORPORATE OFFICE
12329 NW 35 Street Coral Springs, Florida 33065
SELF-SERVICE CENTER
700 W. Eau Gallie Blvd. Melbourne, Florida 32935 Self-Service Center

Useful Mosquito information fom the CDC

There are three very important mosquito-borne diseases that occur in Florida: Eastern equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, and West Nile fever/encephalitis; all of these diseases are caused by viruses that are transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. Adult female mosquitoes feed on blood for the nutrients it provides for developing the eggs that they will deposit. When mosquitoes feed on blood, they salivate prior to and during feeding. If the mosquito feeds on a bird that is infected with one of the viruses, there is a chance that she will pick up the virus from the bird’s blood. After a couple of weeks, if the virus has survived in the mosquito and increased to high numbers, she is able to infect a new blood host, such as another bird, a human, or a horse. The virus is released through the saliva when she is feeding. If the virus infects a human or horse, for example, there is a possibility that the new host will develop symptoms of encephalitis and become ill; more often, however, these hosts are only slightly ill or experience no symptoms at all and develop antibodies to the virus. Some birds can harbor the viruses with no ill effects. However, West Nile virus has been fatal to many raptors and corvids (blue jays, crows, hawks).

West Nile Virus

West Nile (WN) virus is carried by mosquitoes and if transmitted to humans, it can cause severe encephalitis. It is closely related to St. Louis Encephalitis (SLE) virus which is sometimes a problem in Florida. West Nile virus was first isolated in 1937, from a woman in the West Nile province of Uganda in Central Africa. Epidemics of WN have occurred in Israel, France, South Africa, and Romania. West Nile virus was first documented in the United States in New York City (NYC) during an epidemic in August 1999. Click here to learn more…

St. Louis Encephalitis

St. Louis encephalitis (SLE) virus is a flavivirus that is transmitted to humans and other vertebrates primarily by mosquitoes of the genus Culex . Infection with SLE results in inapparent infection in a variety of birds and mammals with a resultant period of viremia that lasts a matter of days. Humans represent an incidental, deadend host. The clinical spectrum of human SLE infection includes inapparent infection, mild illness (febrile with headache), aseptic meningitis, and encephalitis which can progress to coma and death. Inapparent infection is most common in the young, whereas encephalitis, especially that progressing to coma and death, is more common in the elderly. Click here to learn more…

Eastern Equine Encephalitis

Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) is a virus disease transmitted to horses and humans by mosquitoes. Birds are the source of infection for mosquitoes. The virus is found along the east coast from New England to Florida, the Gulf Coast, and some midwestern areas. The principal vector in avian populations is the mosquito Culiseta melanura. This mosquito does not feed on humans or horses, but in rare cases the virus can escape from its marsh habitat in other mosquitoes that feed on both birds and mammals (including horses and humans) and then transmit the virus to mammals, including people. Horses and humans are “dead end” hosts, meaning that they do not develop enough virus in their blood to transmit the virus (therefore sick horses or humans can’t transmit the disease to mosquitoes, only birds can). Click here to learn more…

Highlands J Virus

Highlands J virus (HJ) is a mosquito-transmitted alphavirus that is similar to eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEE) in its natural cycle; it is transmitted from Culiseta melanura mosquitoes to songbirds in freshwater swamps. It has a low pathogenicity in mammals and is rarely seen in humans or horses. There have been outbreaks reported in penned birds but the symptoms are mild compared to EEE. Click here to learn more….

Arboviral Surveillance

There are several tools that have been developed for monitoring mosquito-borne viruses. Some tools incorporate mosquitoes, while others make use of hosts such as birds, horses, and humans. The following is a description of the tools available to a mosquito control district or health department for mosquito-borne virus surveillance. Table 1 lists the advantages and disadvantages for each tool from a mosquito control operation perspective. Click here to learn more…

Info courtesy of: http://mosquito.ifas.ufl.edu/Mosquito_borne_Diseases.htm

Hillsborough steps up spraying in wake of encephalitis death

TAMPA – The woman who died earlier this month from Eastern equine encephalitis is the first human case of the mosquito-borne disease in Hillsborough County since 1964 and the first death in the U.S. since 2008.

In reaction to the death and positive tests for other diseases such as West Nile Virus, the county increased mosquito control efforts in northwest Hillsborough, where the woman lived, said Donny Hayes, general manager of Hillsborough County Mosquito Control.

Trucks sprayed the area Friday night, and Tuesday morning an aircraft sprayed in an attempt to kill the female mosquitoes that carry the virus.

The county plans another round of aerial spraying in northwest Hillsborough early Thursday morning.

Crews also stepped up daytime spraying of stagnant water where the mosquito larvae live and increased trapping efforts to discover the extent of the mosquito population, Hayes said.

The woman’s death from the rare but highly lethal virus comes amid signs mosquito-borne diseases are possibly more prevalent in Hillsborough County than in the past few years.

Monitoring for disease-carrying mosquitoes in Hillsborough County so far in 2010 has yielded two to three times more positive tests than in the past three or four years. This year, 15 of the sentinel chickens tested positive in Hillsborough for West Nile virus or Eastern equine encephalitis.

Normally at this time of year, five to seven of the chickens caged at different locations to provide an early warning for mosquito-borne illnesses test positive. West Nile virus appears especially prevalent.

“We’re seeing an increase across the board,” said Steve Huard, Hillsborough County Health Department spokesman.

West Nile hasn’t shown up as much in Pinellas. In May, two chickens tested positive, said Maggie Hall, spokeswoman for the Pinellas County Health Department.

The Hillsborough health department won’t identify the woman who died July 1 but tests confirmed Friday that she died from Eastern equine encephalitis, Huard said.

Mosquitoes spread the disease by biting infected birds, then biting people. Horses also can contract the virus but it cannot spread from horses to people, from person to person or human to horse.

Though rare, the virus can cause a swelling of the brain. About one-third of the people infected die. Another one-third survives but with serious neurological effects, said Danielle Stanek, medical epidemiologist with the Florida Department of Health. The rest recover.

There is no treatment for the virus and no vaccine for humans. A vaccine is available for horses.

Florida usually sees up to three human cases a year. Some years, such as 2009, have none, Stanek said.

Since 1955, 74 people in Florida have contracted Eastern equine encephalitis.

Once health officials investigate the woman’s death, they will probably find she had more exposure to mosquito bites than most people, said Jonathan Day, a University of Florida medical entomologist.

“It is a numbers game. The more you’re bitten, the more chance you have of getting it,” Day said.

Equine encephalitis generally is considered a rural disease, partly because the mosquito that spreads the virus from bird to bird lives in marshes and swamps, Day said. That mosquito does not bite humans.

Other mosquitoes spread the disease to people after biting an infected bird. One, Culex nigripalpus, is everywhere during the wet summer months.

“You’ll find it from downtown Tampa to rural areas,” Day said.

It primarily feeds from dusk until about three hours after sundown and also carries West Nile virus.

Another mosquito vector for the virus breeds in ponds that have aquatic vegetation, Hayes said.

That insect, Coquillettida perturbans, feeds day and night and is an aggressive biter, he said.

Via: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jul/20/211604/1st-fatal-equine-encephalitis-case-2008-confirmed/news-breaking/

Mosquito Control

Gordon Patterson: Florida has fought epic battle against six-legged blood suckers

The war between people and mosquitoes must surely be one of nature’s epic conflicts. Each year mosquito-borne diseases bring suffering and death to hundreds of millions of people. Recently the World Health Organization estimated that a child dies from malaria every 30 seconds.

Emerging and re-emerging diseases such as dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic fever, dengue shock syndrome, and encephalitides like West Nile fever pose a growing threat to people.

Florida has a special place in the history of our species struggle with six-legged, blood-sucking pests. Long before Count Dracula, the Sunshine State earned a reputation as a kind of Transylvania in the sub-tropics. Mosquitoes, in fact, nearly blocked Florida’s admission to the Union. Virginia Rep. John Randolph opposed Florida’s statehood because he felt nothing good could come from a land of “quagmires, frogs, alligators, and mosquitoes.”

In 1929, the novelist Zora Neale Hurston echoed Randolph’s pessimism in near-Biblical terms. For Hurston, Florida’s mosquitoes were evidence of human’s fall and Satan’s claim on the Sunshine State.

Throughout much of the 19th and 20th centuries, mosquito-borne diseases regularly inflicted pain and suffering. Yellow fever epidemics repeatedly occurred in Jacksonville, Pensacola and Key West. Much of north Florida was part of a “malaria belt” that stretched across the South. In 1920, Florida’s sanitary engineer estimated that in Taylor County, 65 percent of the population suffered from malaria. Two years later, dengue fever swept across the state infecting more than a 250,000 people.

The epidemic galvanized interest in mosquito control. In December 1922, 150 mosquito warriors met in Daytona and organized the Florida Anti-Mosquito Association. Three years later, Alex MacWilliam and James Vocelle of Vero Beach led the legislative fight to create mosquito abatement districts. That June, newly formed Indian River County established Florida’s first mosquito control district. Today there are 61 mosquito control programs in the state.

Mosquito control transformed Florida. Malaria and yellow fever were vanquished. Mosquito control forced pest and nuisance mosquitoes to retreat.

There were costs. Some mosquito control projects were poorly planned. In the 1940s and 1950s, overreliance on insecticides such as DDT harmed nontarget species. Today, organizations like the American Mosquito Control Association and the Florida Mosquito Control Association strive to find ways of controlling mosquitoes in a way that protects the environment while promoting the public health.

Mosquito control faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. In 2001, West Nile virus arrived in Florida. This spring there was an outbreak of dengue fever in Key West.

There is a desperate need for research into new control and surveillance strategies at a time in which local, state, and federal authorities have reduced funding for public health initiatives. One thing is certain. If the challenges of emerging and reemerging mosquito-borne diseases are to be met, they will require citizens who understand the achievements and limitations of mosquito control. As the swarms of summer begin to rise, it is only right that we reflect on our shared responsibility to fight the bite.

Patterson, author of two books on mosquitoes, is a professor of history at Florida Institute of Technology.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/jun/28/gordon-patterson-florida-has-fought-epic-battle/

Florida Mosquito Control

There’s an app for that?

Homeowners and pest-control technicians have a new option for identifying bugs lurking in houses and other buildings — an app for the iPhone.

The downloadable application, which was developed by researchers at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, provides colour photos and text describing almost 40 pest species.

Called iPest1, it is one of the first mobile-phone apps dealing with pest insects. It is compatible with Apple mobile devices including the popular iPhone and sells for $1.99 (£1.33).

//

’Proper identification of pests is crucial in effective pest management. I wanted to have a mobile guide to household pests, to help educate people,’ said University of Florida entomologist Rebecca Baldwin, principal developer. ’I couldn’t find one, so we ended up creating one.’

The app focuses on four topics: cockroaches, filth-breeding flies, pests that occasionally enter dwellings and pest droppings. Many of the species included are found nationwide or even worldwide, but the selection leans toward pests common in the southeastern US, Baldwin added.

Each species is shown in a colour photo and actual-size silhouette. The images are accompanied by text that includes common and scientific names, habitat, biology, behaviour and distribution. Users can enlarge photos and activate links to related University of Florida documents.

The idea came about more than a year ago, when Baldwin bought an iPhone and began browsing educational wildlife apps and soon realised there was almost nothing to help people identify pests.

After polling pest-control industry personnel, Baldwin found there was significant interest in an iPhone app. So, with a grant from the Florida Co-operative Extension Service — the outreach arm of the University of Florida’s agriculture programme — she spent much of late 2009 and early 2010 developing iPest1.

Proceeds from iPest1 — which has sold close to 100 units since the release in early May — will be used toward the development of additional apps in the iPest series.

Professionals have already begun using iPest1. Linda Prentice, a certified associate entomologist with BugOut Service, a northeast Florida-based pest control company, said she has had the app for two weeks and it has drawn interest from many colleagues.

The app can also help pest-control technicians educate customers about organisms found during inspections, said Allen Fugler Jr, executive vice-president of the Orlando-based Florida Pest Management Association.

Al Hoffer’s Pest Protection Inc.

Mosquito control gears up

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Mosquitoes can quickly put a damper on any outdoor activity, and the ability of the tiny blood-sucking insects to spread disease makes them more of a public health threat than a nuisance.

The 13-member staff of the Beach Mosquito Control District is dedicated to alleviating the risks posed by mosquitoes through research and population control, but are also marking Mosquito Control Awareness Week, which continues through Saturday, by asking residents to redouble their efforts at eliminating potential breeding grounds around their home.

Cindy Mulla of the Beach Mosquito Control District said 45 species of mosquitoes reside in the Panhandle and about 80 statewide. Several of these species are a primary conduit for the spread of diseases, including eastern equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, West Nile and heartworms. The Beach Mosquito Control District tests mosquitoes and monitors diseases in its area, which spans from the Hathaway Bridge to Lake Powell. In the last three to four years, very few mosquito-related viruses were reported in the region, but Bay County had the highest rate of West Nile infection in Florida in 2005.

Florida’s heat and humidity has long made it an ideal location for mosquitoes. In the 19th century, Mulla said Panama City and the surrounding area were part of what was referred to as the “malaria belt,” a strip beginning in Daytona Beach and extending northwest that was infamous for high malaria fatalities each year. Mosquitoes played a key role in spreading the disease. Wealthy residents typically moved north during the hottest months, but those without the means to do so suffered greatly, she said.

“Without mosquito control, this area would be nearly uninhabitable,” Mulla said.

Wet weather in April and May led to a large uptick in mosquitoes, but a relatively dry June has caused the population to fall significantly, etymologist Dale Martin said. The fastest growing population identified recently has been domestic mosquitoes, which people breed in and around their homes without even knowing it. The mosquito control district is reminding people to empty standing water from where it might pool around the home. Plant saucers, kiddie pools and wheelbarrows also are popular culprits.

“One bird bath has the potential to spawn 10,000 mosquitoes in one year,” Mulla said.

The explosive ability of the insects to multiply — one female mosquito lays about 250 eggs at a time — has caused the mosquito control district to focus on killing larvae before they mature to adulthood. About 1,000 ditches, catch basins and retention ponds in the district are treated regularly with insecticide, and crews also respond to resident complaints.

It is impossible to stop all larvae from maturing, so the district also maintains a helicopter to spray areas with high concentrations of mosquitoes.

While some people have expressed concern over the chemicals in the spray, pilot Brad Gunn said only about two tablespoons of insecticide is used to treat about an acre of land. The spray is also highly targeted and can be used only in areas where the mosquito population has reached a high concentration. The district closely monitors the mosquito population with traps.

“Any spraying we do we have to have justification,” Gunn said. “The days of just wild guessing are long gone. … The people at the beach appreciate it I think. They’re used to seeing me.”

On an individual level, Mulla said following the five Ds of prevention will minimize exposure to the pests: wearing DET insect repellent, draining standing water, dressing in clothing with long sleeves and pants and avoiding the outdoors at dawn and dusk.

People also can report problems with mosquitoes at http://www.pcbeachmosquito.org. Mulla said crews are on the road every day and will respond to complaints in a timely manner.

Tracking Disease Through Mosquito Slobber

By Michael Price

This is nothing to spit at: Scientists say they may be able to track deadly mosquito-borne diseases by studying the saliva the insects leave behind when they feed on sugary bait.

Mosquito-borne diseases are a major health hazard worldwide. Some, like malaria, chronically afflict certain regions. But others, such as dengue fever, West Nile virus, and chikungunya, can rapidly emerge in new locations or reappear in areas where they’ve gone dormant. That means public health officials must keep a constant eye on the diseases’ movement.

The usual methods for detecting mosquito-borne viruses all have a weakness: Relying on clinical diagnoses means a disease has already arrived in the population; keeping ”sentinel” animals is costly, and the animals themselves provide a food source for mosquitoes; and capturing thousands of mosquitoes and analyzing their RNA is expensive and labor-intensive.

Now, Andrew van den Hurk, a virologist with Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services in Coopers Plains, Australia, and colleagues have found a way to monitor mosquito-borne diseases that may be simpler than current methods and suitable for use over large geographic areas. For their new study, the researchers took advantage of the fact that mosquitoes are sloppy eaters: When they feed on a sugar source, the insects leave behind a slobbery mess. And van den Hurk and colleagues have found that they can detect viruses in that residue of mosquito spit, as they report online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

To prove it, the scientists created box traps that lure mosquitoes with carbon dioxide gas—mosquitoes are attracted to the stuff because it indicates the presence of a breathing animal and therefore a meal—and then suck them inside with a fan. Once inside the trap, the mosquitoes feed on filter paper soaked with honey—dyed blue so that the color rubs off on the mosquitoes that take the bait. The researchers set out traps in Bunbury in Western Australia and near Cairns, in Northeastern Australia—two historical hot beds of the mosquito-borne Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses. Over 11 weeks, scientists returned to the traps weekly to collect the filter paper and trapped mosquitoes and send them to the lab for analysis.

Whenever the filter paper returned positive results for viral RNA, the labs also found the viruses present in the mosquitoes they’d captured, meaning the filter paper accurately reflected the presence of virus-carrying mosquitoes. The scientists suggest the technique might be able to be modified to detect other diseases like malaria and bluetongue virus.

Honey is antibacterial, so it’s an excellent medium for protecting viral RNA from bacteria until researchers return to collect it. The traps can be left out for more than a week, allowing them to set out traps over a relatively large geographical range and check the traps intermittently, the researchers say. Another benefit is speed. Labs can analyze the filter paper using an RNA-identifying technique known as reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, which reveals whether the diseases are present almost instantaneously. By contrast, sorting, preserving, and transporting trapped mosquitoes for RNA analysis is a much lengthier and more laborious process. The current method also requires keeping the mosquito samples cold—something that’s not always feasible in hot, tropical environments.

Jonathan Day, an entomologist at the University of Florida’s medical entomology lab in Vero Beach, says that, compared with analyzing trapped mosquitoes or finding infection in sentinel animals, the new technique could essentially cut in half the time it takes to detect and respond to an outbreak in a new area,. But he says it remains to be seen whether the technique will be cost-efficient enough to warrant researchers switching to it. ”It certainly is clever,” Day says, ”but cost is the critical factor.” Day also points out that the technique lets you know only whether the disease is present and cannot tell researchers how widespread the infection is among an area’s mosquito population.

Rory McAbee, a biologist with the Fresno Mosquito and Vector Control District in California, agrees that the method could be a timesaver for researchers, but cautions that the traps will only work for mosquitoes that are attracted to carbon dioxide. ”Not all species are going to go into the trap,” she says. ”This would have to be evaluated for each species and virus.”

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/06/tracking-disease-through-mosquit.html

South Florida Mosquito Control Services

Epic Spring Rains Spawn Mosquito Emergency

Summer’s back . . . and so are the unwelcome guests everyone dreads.

The never-ending spring rainstorms that drenched the East Coast in March, and the hot days that followed in April, were the perfect storm for mosquitoes, say experts, breeding millions of bloodsuckers that came early and could stay for the season.

“As of right now, it’s really ramping up in a big way in the Northeast, as it is down here in the Southeast where I am in Florida,” said Joe Conlon, technical adviser with the American Mosquito Control Association.

West Coast citizens may be in for a fun summer, too. While it’s typically the Northeast that has to fight off the little creatures, health officials in one California county have already issued a general health alert — with the usual warnings about changing the water in the bird baths and keeping the gutters clear of standing water. And Maricopa County, Ariz., reports discovery of a West Nile-infected mosquito.

But it’s the swampy East Coast conditions that leave experts worried.

Mosquitos, the pesky vampires of the insect world have nothing on these guys. Here are the most vicious vampires Hollywood has to offer — and their foes, the fearless vampire slayers.

Thanks to a particularly wet spring, researchers warn of a giant mosquito invasion across the northeast this summer. Here’s what to watch out for.

“What standing water is left [after a storm] breeds an enormous numbers of mosquitoes,” Conlon said. And March’s drenching downfalls left an awful lot. Massachusetts and Maryland slogged through the wettest months on record, according to the National Climatic Data Center, and Florida, Virginia and pretty much every state north of them saw precipitation above normal.

Rain from storms actually kills mosquitoes, Conlon explained, but new larvae breed in the standing water that remains — especially in the warmer-than-average weather that swept each of those states in April.

That puddle in the lawn that’s persisted for a few weeks? That could be bad news.

“They can breed in 6 feet of water as easily as they can breed in 2 feet of water,” said Stephen Rich, professor of medical entomology and head of the Plant, Soil & Insect Sciences department at the University of Massachusetts.

His part of the Bay State appears to be in a drought, and mosquitoes are traditionally more active in late August anyway, Rich told FoxNews.com. But most of Massachusetts is suffering the onslaught of a severe early mosquito season.

“The whole mosquito cycle has been pushed ahead,” David Henley, superintendent of the East Middlesex Mosquito Control Project, told the Boston Globe. “And they’re actively biting people because we’ve had so many warm nights.”

“It’s very difficult to predict how the mosquito season is going to go,” Conlon cautions. “If rainfall starts going down, the production throughout the mosquito season is going to go down.” The amount of sunlight, the temperature and rainfall will determine how many mosquitoes you’ll see at your next barbecue, added Stephen Rich.

And while enjoying that cheeseburger, consider this: It’s only the female mosquitoes that suck your blood. Males feed only on plant nectars.

Although we call those summer scratchers “mosquito bites,” the creatures suck rather than bite. “They have several stylets — they’re kind of like needles that they insert into your skin,” Conlon explained. “It’s not like a syringe per se, because the saliva goes out and blood comes up through the same channel.”

Female mosquitoes feed on the protein from human and animal blood to build eggs, Conlon said. “She’s just bringing in the blood so she can build eggs inside of her. Then she fertilizes them from stored sperm from the males,” he said.

According to Conlon, the 176 species of mosquitoes in the United States feed on birds, reptiles, humans and other animals, but those that feed on birds and humans are the most dangerous.

The fight against mosquitoes varies from county to county based on need, and since it will be impossible to wipe them all out, containment is key. “The vast majority of mosquitoes are not transmitting any disease. You can get epidemic transmission if 1 out of 1,000 is transmitting disease,” Conlon said. “We don’t have to kill all of the mosquitoes, but if we kill some of them or prevent some from being born that will lessen the amount that transmits to humans.”

Although West Nile has dropped from the news a bit in recent years (and is prevalent mainly in late summer and early fall), Conlon said it’s still a threat. “Unfortunately, it’s fallen off the radar. We’ve had West Nile cases already this year. What’s happening is that the conditions aren’t ripe for a large amount of transmission right now.”

To ward off the pesky insects, wear light-colored and loose-fitting clothing, experts say. And use a CDC-approved repellent such as Deet, Picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus.

Missy Henriksen, vice president of public affairs for the National Pest Management Association, suggested avoiding open-toe shoes and perfumes. Cut down tree limbs and keep windows and doors properly screened, she added.

Florida Mosquito Control Company

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/05/31/epic-spring-rains-spawn-mosquito-emergency-northeast/

Mosquito repellents

The best ways to avoid mosquito bites are to avoid infested areas, wear protective clothing, and wear insect repellent.

How Do Mosquito Repellents Work?

Repellents make humans unattractive to a mosquito so that it will avoid areas of the body that have been treated with the product. Repellents do not kill mosquitoes. The best repellents will provide protection from bites for a long period of time from just one application. The University of Florida mosquito researchers test and evaluate the effectiveness of mosquito repellents based on the amount of time the product will continue to repel mosquitoes after one application to the skin. This is known as Complete Protection Time (CPT).

How To Decide Which Repellent Is Best

Read the label to determine what the active ingredient is and what percentage of the active ingredient is in the container. Use Table 1 , based on University of Florida research, as a guideline to compare products. Some provide protection for a long period of time and some have very short protection times.

In 2005, the CDC revised their recommendations on mosquito repellents and added two repellents, in addition to DEET: Picaridin [1-Piperidinecarboxylic acid, 2-(2-hydroxyethyl)-, 1-methylpropylester] and Oil of Lemon-Eucalyptus [p-menthane 3,8-diol (PMD)]. The oil of lemon eucalyptus has not been tested against mosquitoes that spread malaria and some other diseases which occur internationally. The label for oil of lemon eucalyptus specifies that it should not be used on children under 3 years of age.

Keep in mind that repellents do not protect all users equally. The effectiveness of a repellent depends on the mosquito species that is biting as well as the age, sex, level of activity, and attractivness of the human using the repellent. Consider the following when choosing a repellent:

• • Are you in an area where you know that mosquito-borne diseases are present?
  • What is the mosquito population like? (A lot of bites expected? Or occasional bites?)
  • Will time spent outdoors at night be longer than an hour?
  • Will you be around heavily vegetated, humid areas during the day?
  • What type of activities are going on: exercising, running, playing sports, etc.?
  • Is the humidity and temperature high?

Table 1. Protection Times of Tested Mosquito Repellents

Products	Active Ingredient	Average Complete Protection Time
OFF! Deep Woods	23.8% DEET	5 hours
Sawyer Controlled Release	20% DEET	4 hours
OFF! Skintastic	6.65% DEET	2 hours
Repel Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent	Oil of lemon eucalyptus; p-menthane 3,8-diol (PMD)	2 hours
Bite Blocker for Kids	2% Soybean Oil	1.5 hours
OFF! Skintastic for Kids	4.75% DEET	1.5 hours
Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard Plus	7.5% IR3535	23 minutes
Natrapel	10% Citronella	20 minutes
Herbal Armor	12% Citronella; 2.5% peppermint oil; 2% cedar oil; 1% lemongrass oil; 0.05% geranium oil	19 minutes
Green Ban for People	10% Citronella; 2% peppermint oil	14 minutes
Buzz Away	5% Citronella	14 minutes
Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard	0.1% Citronella	10 minutes
Skin-So-Soft Bath Oil	Active Ingredient not known	10 minutes
Skin-So-Soft Moisturizing Suncare	0.05% Citronella	3 minutes
Gone Original Wristband	9.5% DEET	0
Repello Wristband	9.5% DEET	0
Gone Plus Repelling Wristband	25% Citronella	0