Project Details
Description
DEET is a ‘gold standard’ mosquito repellent used in many commercial products, whilst pyrethroids are used as front-line insecticides to reduce mosquito levels in the field. However, mosquito populations are growing increasingly resistant to both these agents, with genetic modifications and selective pressures producing dominant repellent/insecticide resistant populations over time. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new repellents to effectively treat DEET/pyrethroid resistant mosquito populations to prevent transmission of debilitating human diseases, such as malaria or the Zika virus. Commercial p-menthane-3,8-diol (PMD) is an alternative ‘natural’ FDA approved mosquito repellent that is currently sold as a mixture of four stereoisomers (e.g.; Citriodiol) - however its efficacy as a repellent against DEET/pyrethroid resistant mosquitos is currently unknown. We previously developed bespoke synthetic methods to prepare all eight stereoisomers of PMD in pure form and showed that they are all highly effective at repelling disease carrying mosquitoes. Consequently, this IAA project funding (RC-CH1391) was used to carry out new ‘arm-in-cage’ testing to determine whether they are effective at repelling DEET-resistant Aedes aegypti and pyrethroid-resistant Anopheles gambiae mosquito species, thus demonstrating their ability to confer much-needed protection against these disease spreading resistant mosquito vectors in the field.
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 1/10/21 → 30/04/22 |
Funding
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
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