A new weapon in the fight against mosquitoes

09:20 AM CDT on Wednesday, May 25, 2005

By Shern- Min Chow / 11News

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Houston is a place that is infested with mosquitoes, and we are well aware they could infect us with the potentially deadly West Nile Virus.

But can you divert the danger with what you're wearing?

This doesn't mean wearing bug spray, but special clothing that promises to repel insects. It's now available in ready-to-wear.

Mom and homemaker Maura Sellers is on a crusade against mosquitoes.

Now, she has a new weapon in her arsenal -- her clothes.

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This mosquito wouldn't go near the specially treated shirt and had his last meal on the reporter's arm.

"They're not on my shirt," says Sellers.

That's because it's been treated with permethrin, a bug repellent that has long been used by the military. When she says it works, she means it.

The mild-mannered housewife is also the creator of the Mosquito Zone Web site.

"It's our mission to help people separate myth from fact," Sellers says.

Using an international scientific advisory board of PhDs or MDs, "Everything they read has been scientifically vetted by these professionals," she says.

Dr. Jim Dennett, with Harris County Mosquito Control agrees, based on more than just science.

"I actually got to use it first hand in Iraq during the first wave," he says.

Major Dennett was there for Operation Iraqi Freedom, where mosquitoes and shadflies were big problems. The army reservist says the treated camouflages really are part of a war on bugs developed by the department of defense.

"We were supplied with an IDA kit, or Individual Dynamic Absorption kit. Then the soldiers soaked their own uniforms.

It was hardly a scientific test, but one mosquito clearly preferred regular clothes and never lighted on a treated shirt, before having his last meal.

Exposed skin is still vulnerable, so don't throw out the bug spray yet.

Now, far more fashionable civilian clothes come ready made. The repellent lasts for 20 to 25 washings.

It's a way of outfitting a new soldier in the urban mosquito wars.