Insect repellent ingredient could be Covid-19 killer, military study finds

Citriodiol, an oil from eucalyptus leaves, might provide layer of protection against coronavirus

A leaked government report has predicted that Britain could experience more than 85,000 excess deaths during a second wave of coronavirus over the winter months. Reuters

A product found in insect repellent can kill the strain of coronavirus that causes Covid-19, initial research by British military scientists has found.

The product, Citriodiol, could offer a new layer of protection against Covid-19 according to scientists at the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL).

DSTL has been testing Mosi-guard, which contains Citriodiol, to see if it is effective when used as a liquid dropped onto the virus and when it used as a "skin" on latex products.

“This research paper demonstrates preliminary findings on the effectiveness of Citriodiol against Covid-19,” DTSL said on Wednesday.

Citriodiol is the active ingredient in a number of hardware store bug repellents, and is found in brands such as Incognito and Ben’s Natural, among others.

It is made from the oil of the leaves and twigs of the eucalyptus citriodora tree, and is effective against a range of biting insects, nuisance insects and ticks.

Britain’s armed forces were first issued with the insect repellent because it was known to be effective against previously identified coronaviruses.

The military then looked at whether insect repellent containing Citriodiol could provide an extra layer of protection in conjunction with face masks and hygiene.

Citrefine International, the company that makes Citriodiol, spoke to Sky News in April about the product as a potential weapon against coronavirus.

"What we can say is that we do feel there is a very good chance it could work against this virus but it does, of course, need to be thoroughly tested," managing director Jacqueline Watson said.

The UK has had the worst death toll in Europe, with 41,535 fatalities among its 329,883 cases.

Lockdown orders are largely being lifted as the UK tries to reopen its economy but there are concerns that rising death rates will follow.

On Wednesday, scientists from the University of Cambridge won government funding worth £1.9 million to start trials on a DNA-based vaccine that aims to protect against multiple coronaviruses.

The scientists behind the vaccine said their approach, which uses genetic sequences of all known coronaviruses to hone the immune response, could help avoid adverse hyper-inflammatory immune reactions.

"We're looking for chinks in its armour, crucial pieces of the virus that we can use to construct the vaccine to direct the immune response in the right direction," Jonathan Heeney, head of the Laboratory of Viral Zoonotics at the University of Cambridge, said.

More than 30 other potential vaccines are in clinical trials, with at least 140 more at the preclinical stage, according to the World Health Organisation.