Some chemical compounds deriving from the plumage of poultry would be able to reduce the presence of mosquitoes by 90%.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himA natural anti-mosquito remedy? The hens! It seems in fact that their fearsome smell keep them away.
The fundamental role would be covered by the chemical compounds deriving precisely from the plumage of poultry, which they would be able to reduce the presence of mosquitoes of 90%.
This is demonstrated by the study of some Swedish researchers, who certainly pursued a much more important goal than tearing us a simple smile: defeat malaria. Scientists at Uppsala University of Agricultural Science, led by entomologist Rickard Ignell, have in practice found that the odors emanating from hens would greatly reduce the risk of being bitten and thus contracting the Plasmodium parasite, which is the responsible number one of the infection that especially brings sub-Saharan Africa to its knees.
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According to statistics from the World Health Organization, in 2015 this infection recorded just under 215 million cases with almost 440 thousand deaths, mostly concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa (the region hosted 88% of malaria cases and 90% of deaths from malaria). In addition, some 3,2 billion people - nearly half of the world's population - are at risk of malaria.
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A systematic review - Published in the magazine Malaria Journal, the Swedish study started from an assumption: mosquitoes bite not only humans but also pets and some farm animals, such as sheep and goats, while the hens are hardly ever hit. In fact, the researchers analyzed just under 1.200 mosquitoes of the Anopheles arabiensis species that had just finished their meal and it turned out that only one had stung a hen. The reason is probably in some smells emanating from the hens which, according to the experts, could act as real "insect repellents".
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To demonstrate this, the bedrooms of over 6.700 people. In some, cages with a hen have been inserted, in others different remedies. At the end of the experiment, the scientists checked how many mosquitoes were trapped in the rooms and saw that in the presence of hens the number of insects was much lower. It was then asked which specific compounds were typical of hens and the four identified substances were tested in some villages of theEthiopia (starting from the blood and feathers samples, the scholars have synthesized chemical repellents "with chicken flavor“), On human volunteers, comparing their effects with those of compounds deriving from other animals.
It has thus proved to be an amazing one reduction of mosquitoes that circulated in the rooms of people who had spread the odors of poultry into the environment, equal to 90-95% of what is observed in the presence of olfactory stimuli related to other pets or farm animals.
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A precious back to nature, therefore, and Swedish scholars also state that chemical compounds similar to those identified in poultry are also present in Mexican marigold and citrus peels.
Germana Carillo
