West Nile virus: DEET is to fight with

Two more mosquito repellent ingredients are comparable with DEET to fight the West Nile virus, US health officials recommended April 28 for the first time after years of favoring DEET.

The &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/columnists/2002/07/17/32718_.html ' target=_blank>US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said it hope the recommended ingredients, the chemical picaridin and oil of lemon eucalyptus, will increase the likelihood that Americans will use repellents to protect against &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/usa/2002/08/24/35180.html ' target=_blank>West Nile, which killed 88 people in the country last year.

Doctors have no treatment for the sometimes fatal disease and mosquito repellents are considered the top weapon against it. But studies have found only about 40 percent of people use repellents.

Both products have been available elsewhere in the world, including Europe and Australia, for some time. Repellent makers have been eager to introduce them to US markets but it was hard to compete with DEET, reports Xinhuanet.

According to Reuters, with the virus now in 47 of the 48 continental U.S. states, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control put the chemical picaridin and oil of lemon eucalyptus on its list of ingredients to ward off West Nile-carrying mosquitoes.