Chilean biologist develops possible Zika repellent detergent

A Chilean biologist has developed a possible Zika-repellent clothes detergent.

In the Grupo Avance laboratory, the biochemist created a substance capable of repelling the mosquito that causes the Zika virus.

The Zika repellent-detergent was created by Mario Reyes as a means of protecting people from the Aedes aegypti mosquito for up to a day.

“Amongst the affects that we will have with this repellent, and massively, is that we will have a large proportion of the population using it. We will have an effect on mosquitoes which are around people, their food source, the process of developing mosquito eggs which will be altered because of the (lack of) necessary protein present in the blood of mammals,” Reyes said.

There has been pressure to develop a vaccine for the virus that has been linked to a wave of birth defects in Brazil.

Since the World Health Organisation ruled the outbreak a global emergency, several companies have been working on vaccines. Nevertheless, the WHO said the vaccines are at least a year and a half away from large-scale trials.