Protect against bites by land leeches

[teotp]

Many BC members and jungle trackers experienced the bites of leeches during their trips to Malaysian rainforest. It is difficult to avoid being bitten by these blood-sucking creatures even wearing leech-socks, spraying footwear and leggings with insecticide like "Baygon" or generously applying legs with "Tiger Balm" (Ismail & Ghazally, 2010).

Laboratory and field tests carried out by FRIM* on a collaborative study with Mosi-Guard International & Germax (Malaysia) tested on the Citriodiol TM and proved to be an excellent repellent against leeches. Heavy and moderate spray on footwear and trouser legs (tucked into socks) gave complete protection against bites by two species of leeches (Haemadipsa picta and Haemadipsa sylvestris). The repellency of "Mosi-Guard" persists over a six-hour period in the field without any decline in its effectiveness (Kirton, 2004).

Sharing the above information with BC members and jungle trackers from overseas.

Teo T P

*FRIM = Forest Research Institute Malaysia.

References:

Laurence Kirton, 2004. Leech protection - fight them off with fragrance. FRIM IN FOCUS: April-May-June Issue, page 11.

Ismail G., & S. Ghazally, 2010. The Malaysian Rainforest Realm - Facsinating Facts in Q & A.

[Silverstreak]

Thank you Thiam Peng for the infor!

This is the insect repellent spray Mossie Guard

Has anyone seen this in the Singapore market ?

LC, have you seen this in KL?

[teotp]

You are welcome Sunny.

I was looking for it in pharmacies like Guardian, Unity..near to my place but they are not carry it for sale. I will look for it again when I go to other shopping complex.

Teo T P

Watsons Pharmacy (Changi Airport T3) : Not available.

[Glorious Begum]

LC, have you seen this in KL?

I have been using this for many years. You can get this in any pharmacy shop in Malaysia. Not cheap though, for spray bottle is around MYR28.

Watch this video taken in Taman Negara trip. Sorry for poor quality shot.

Sprayed on your shoes and leeches would not crawl up to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiHwo_rIzF0

[Silverstreak]

And if all fails and one got attached to you .......

Thanks to LC for passing this on during our previous trip up north:

To stop the bleeding tobacco tops every other known remedy in stopping the bleed.

Take a pinch of tobacco, cover over the wound and stick over with a plaster. The bleed will stop in no time.

[Glorious Begum]

For non-smoker, you can try using Melastoma malabathricum.

Crush the leaves and drip the juice on the bite.

[teotp]

Thank you LC for the information of where to get the "Mosi-guard" and the methods to stop bleeding after leech bite.

I did a survey about mosquito repellents in few local pharmacies like Watsons, Guardian, Unity, Cold Storage.. there is a mosquito spray repellent manufactured by "Tiger Balm" contains "Citronella oil". I was wondering whether this is the same as "Citriodiol"? If yes, can this repellent subsititues the "Mosi-guard"?

Teo T P

Additional information:
"Tiger Balm" mosquito repellent (spray): active ingredients are citronella oil 9%, camphor 3% and menthol 1%.
Another mosquito repellent "Moz-away (spray)": active ingredient is citronella 15% w/v.

[MrGee]

According to the Mosi-Guard website, Citriodiol is more effective than and longer lasting than Citronella.

We provide guided jungle treks here at Rainbow Lodge and I would love to find a supplier of Mosi-Guard. We have never seen it for sale here in Cambodia. The nearest distributor appears to be in Malaysia.

We currently use OFF! Active, which is certainly helpful. Leeches tend not to bite where it is applied but they will continue up to places where it isn't, sometimes with unpleasant results! OFF! contains DEET, which we do not really want to use (even at only 15%). Also, although the "Active" version is sweat resistant, it doesn't stay on for long in the rain or when walking through puddles or mountain streams. Having said that, I don't suppose Mosi-Guard would either.

[teotp]

N,N-Diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET) has been used as a repellent against blood-sucking insects like mosquitoes all over the world. However, DEET has many disadvantages such as unpleasant odour and skin penetration. Further more, it reacts with certain plastics and synthetic rubber and also carcinogenic (Nishimura & Satoh, 1999).

Both citronella oil and "Mosi-guard"(= Citriodiol) are essential oils. Citriodiol is a biological active natural product distilled from Eucalyptus citriodora, which tested with no or very low toxicity to human (Guenther, 1956; Nishimura & Satoh, 1999; Bruneton, 1999; Lewis, 2007). The chemicals analysed from Eucalyptus citriodora oil gave rise to p-menthane-3,8-diols (cis type 1 and trans type 2). Research works by Nishimura & Satoh (1999) on mosquitoes like Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti (Yellow fever mosquito) using essential oils extracted from E. globulus, E. radiata, E, citriodora, E. camaldulensis as repellents in comparison to DEET, both E. citriodora and E. camaldulensis showed excellent repelling activities and are superior to DEET. Of cause, body parts which not appling any repellent will infest with leeches and this is why Dr. Kirton recommended heavy or moderate spray on footwear, socks and trouser legs (tucked into socks to prevent the blood-sucking creature crawl up to other body parts from inner trouser legs).

I did a search in medical and science libraries about citronella oils and citriodiol oil, they are different types of essential oils. I have not tested ''Mosi-guard" in the field yet and no comments of it's efficacy.

Cheers!

Teo T P

[guldsmed]

Thx for this info - certainly useful!