Donkey skin as tick repellent? Mass. researchers say it could be more effective than DEET

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2 days ago

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst say a naturally occurring compound secreted by the skin of donkeys can effectively repel the most common human-biting tick.
In fact, they assert it can be as effective, if not more so, than DEET, one of most common active ingredients in commercial insect repellents.
Deer ticks are responsible for spreading Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and babesiosis in humans, and their presence in Massachusetts and more broadly New England has been on the rise due to climbing temperatures and a more moderate climate.
Microbiologist Stephen Rich, executive director of the New England Center of Excellence in Vector-borne Diseases at UMass Amherst, said there is a strong public desire for 'natural' means of killing and repelling ticks.
Read more: Researchers discover novel bacteria linked to deadly fever in New England ticks
While repellents containing DEET are safe when used as directed, some people simply don't like their chemical nature.
The sebaceous glands of horses and donkeys create secretions that include allomones — chemical substances that affect the behavior of other plant and animal species.
Previous research has shown ticks that feed off horses, but not donkeys, will be repelled when donkey skin secretion is used to mask the horses' smell.
'So, to ticks, the horse doesn't smell like the host they're used to,' said doctoral student Eric Siegel, lead author of the research published in the journal PLOS One. 'The ticks don't like it, and so they won't feed on it. Our assessment that we can repel ticks with this compound means that in theory we could either put it on ourselves or put it on dogs, and the ticks will not want to go near it.'
Siegel said lab work conducted in 2023 showed donkey skin secretion can be as effective, 'or more so,' than DEET. It was also more effective with male ticks than females, he said.
Read more: White-tailed deer blood may hold the key to fighting Lyme disease, UMass study finds
The research is a collaboration with Gearjump Technologies, a research and development firm, to work on the creation of a deer tick repellent containing octenal — the donkey compound — as the active ingredient.
'One avenue is, can we substitute the use of pesticides and use this in the environment to repel ticks?' Siegel said.
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Read the original article on MassLive.