Simon Fraser University scientists have announced that they have discovered the chemical attractants needed to create the world’s first effective and affordable bait-and-trap for bed bugs.The traps, which they hope will be commercially available next year, might be able to capture enough of the bugs to eliminate a small outbreak, said SFU biology professor Gerhard Gries.“You want to look at this as primarily being a detection tool,” Gries said. “When it’s heavily infested, I would say the insecticide or heat treatment are the best options.”Gries worked on the project with his wife, Regine Gries, also a biologist at SFU, who literally sacrificed blood for the project.Over years of research, Regine subjected her arms to approximately 180,000 bed bug bites from a colony kept at the school. The sacrifice was necessary to isolate the pheromones, she said.“You can feed it on the blood of chickens or guinea pigs, but that’s not their preferred blood. To get the best results, and not jeopardize their chemical profiles, it was important to feed them human blood.”
Regine was the perfect guinea pig herself — she’s immune to the bites. “I’m a lucky one. I have almost no reaction.”That is not the case for the majority of people who come into contact with the blood-sucker, whose bites can cause violent itching and rashes. (They are also known to carry the pathogen that causes Chagas disease, which is prevalent in Central and South America.)Over the last two decades, the parasite known to entomologists as Cimex lectularius, once thought eradicated in the developed world, has reappeared as a global scourge. They infest not just low-income housing but also expensive hotels and apartments, and public venues such as stores, movie theatres, libraries and even public transit.The couple began research in 2008. A student of theirs had isolated some pheromones, chemicals released by the insects, that allow them to communicate. The Gries found the pheromones attracted insects in the lab, but not out in the field.“That told us we had part of the message, but not the complete message,” Gerhard Gries said.
So the couple set out to analyze the exuvia, or skin, that the bugs shed. They collaborated with SFU chemist Robert Britton, who used Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometers to study the chemicals Regine had isolated from exuvia. Britton and his team discovered that histamine, a molecule with unusual properties that eluded identification through traditional methods, signals “safe shelter” to the insect. Once in contact with the histamine, the bed bugs stay put whether or not they have recently fed on a human host.“We took the histamine in the field,” Regine Gries said, “and we still didn’t get good results. It was really one of our darkest days. We had worked our butts off and we didn’t catch any bed bugs in infested apartments.”In December of 2013, Regine’s found additional chemicals in the bugs’ waste. “We took the whole blend, then took some out, like compounds with alcohol. We took other functionalities out. From those many chemicals, we found five that were needed to attract the bed bug.”
The researchers tested out their new concoction in the field, including bed bug-infested rooms in the Downtown Eastside.“We have been out in infested rooms in April, May and the beginning of June almost daily, and we tested every day,” Regine Gries said. “We are pretty sure we have a blend that can attract the bed bugs. This trap is based on the bed bugs’ own language.”Blends that are based on human chemicals are much more expensive to produce.The Gries are now working with Victoria-based Contech Enterprises Inc. to develop the first effective and affordable bait and trap for bed bugs. They expect it to be commercially available next year.The researchers’ findings constitute an important step forward in the war against bed bugs.“This was really a race,” Gerhard said. “There are groups in the U.S. and Europe who are after the same type of chemicals. When you have a pest like the bed bug, where it has such an impact on human life, there is a lot of interest in the scientific community to find a solution.“
Luckily for us, we got there first.”/typo.Is there more to this story? We'd like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. BBB helps people find and recommend businesses, brands and charities they can trust. For best results, please add a location.The World Health Organization has declared the rapid spread of the Zika virus—which has been linked to serious birth defects and is transmitted mainly by mosquitoes—an international public health emergency. In response to this growing threat, Consumer Reports is releasing free to the public its exclusive test results and Ratings of mosquito repellents—including those that will protect you best against Aedes mosquitoes, the type that carry Zika. The Zika virus can make anyone sick for up to a week with fever, rash, joint pain, red eyes, and other symptoms. But it's especially dangerous for women who are pregnant or considering pregnancy because it increases the risk of babies born with microcephaly, a condition marked by an abnormally small head and incomplete brain development.
There is currently no vaccine to prevent the disease or drug to treat it, making it essential that people avoid mosquito bites, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC emphasizes that avoiding mosquito bites requires multiple strategies, such as wearing long-sleeved pants and shirts when outdoors. But it says that mosquito repellents are essential, too. “Using an insect repellent is one of the best ways you can protect yourself from Zika and other diseases transmitted by mosquitoes," says Harry Savage, chief of ecology and entomology activity at the CDC's Division of Vector-Borne Diseases. And Consumer Reports' tests showed that some repellents worked much better than others at protecting against the type of mosquitoes that transmit Zika. The CDC has urged pregnant women against travel to countries where Zika has been reported, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. While no cases have yet been traced to mosquito bites received on the U.S. mainland, experts predict some spread of the disease in the U.S. as the weather warms up, particularly in Florida, Texas, and other Southern states where the Aedes mosquitoes that carry the disease are most prevalent.
The Most Effective Insect Repellents To find the most effective mosquito repellents, we tested products containing a variety of ingredients, including deet, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, chemicals called IR3535 and 2-undecanone, as well as a variety of plant oils, such as cedar, citronella, geraniol, lemongrass, and rosemary. The most effective products against Aedes mosquitoes were Sawyer Picaridin and Natrapel 8 Hour, which each contain 20 percent picaridin, and Off! Deepwoods VIII, which contains 25 percent deet. They kept the mosquitoes from biting for about 8 hours. (The Sawyer product was our top insect repellent overall. It was the only one that also kept Culex mosquitoes, which can spread West Nile disease, and deer ticks, which can spread Lyme disease, away for at least 8 hours.) Ben's 30% DEET Tick & Insect Wilderness Formula kept Aedes mosquitoes away for 7.5 hours and Repel Lemon Eucalyptus, containing 30 percent lemon eucalyptus, stopped them for 7 hours.
The IR3535 products didn’t make our list of recommended sprays. Neither did repellents with 2-Undecananone or those that contained 7 percent deet or less than 20 percent picaridin. We advise skipping most products made with natural plant oils, such as California Baby Natural Bug Blend (a blend of citronella, lemongrass oil, cedar oil, and other ingredients) and EcoSmart Organic, (which includes geraniol, rosemary oil, cinnamon oil, and lemongrass oil). They did not last for more than 1 hour against Aedes mosquitoes, and some failed almost immediately. In addition, those products are not registered by the Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates skin-applied repellents and evaluates them for safety and effectiveness. Most plant-oil products are exempt from scrutiny by the EPA because the agency considers them to be a minimum risk to human health. Instead, the CDC recommends using EPA-registered insect repellents. To see if a mosquito repellent is registered by the EPA, look for its registration number ("EPA Reg.") on the back of the label.
Have you put off travel plans because of the Zika virus? Tell us about it below. The Best Way to Use Mosquito Repellent Insect repellents that use deet come in varying concentrations, ranging from 4 percent to 100 percent. Our previous tests show that concentrations of 30 percent provide the same protection against mosquitoes as higher percentages for up to 8 hours. But higher concentrations of deet have been linked to rashes, disorientation, and seizures. That’s why Consumer Reports says you should avoid mosquito repellents with more than 30 percent deet and not use it at all on infants younger than 2 months. Women who are pregnant or breast feeding can safely use deet, picaridin, lemon eucalyptus, and IR3535, according to the EPA, if they are applied properly. Here are tips from the EPA on how to use insect repellent: Apply repellents only to exposed skin or clothing—never put it on under clothing. Use just enough to cover and only for as long as needed;