Community Corner

Top 5 Insect Repellent Products

Using insect repellent with deet is one of the preventative tips for West Nile Virus.

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Nicole Krawcke, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge

With the Michigan as of Thursday, local health departments are advising residents to follow prevention tips, such as wearing insect repellent.

The Livingston County Department of Public Health recommends using insect repellent with deet, a slightly yellow oil that protects against insect bits like ticks and mosquitoes.

ConsumerReports.org tested and reviewed various insect repellents to discover the top products.

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Testers at an outside lab bared their arms in mosquito-filled cages and also let ticks crawl on them. ConsumerReports.org then recorded how long it took for mosquitoes to start biting and for ticks to crawl over treated areas, then used the data to rate the repellents. These mosquitoes, of course, were free of West Nile Virus.

Top 5 Insect Repellents

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Rank Product Cost per oz Active Ingredient Score 1 Off Deep Woods Sportsmen II $1.25 deet 30 percent 98 2 Cutter Backwoods Unscented $1.33 deet 23 percent 98 3 Off FamilyCare Smooth & Dry $1.63 deet 15 percent 98 4 3M Ultrathon Insect Repellent 8 $1.67 deet 25 percent 98 5 Repel Plant Based Lemon Eucalyptus $1.94 oil of lemon eucalyptus 97

For the full list, visit ConsumerReports.org.

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