Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Technologies Available to Repel Mosquitoes

Aired June 04, 2003 - 11:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A mild winter and a wet spring could mean more mosquitoes than usual this year, and that could mean more worry about West Nile virus.
CNN Technology Reporter Daniel Sieberg has an update for us this morning on the latest gadgets out there on the market to beat the bugs -- hey, Dan.

DAN SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Hey, that's right. Good morning, Leon. You know, think of it as the evolution of the bug zapper. If you -- you can spend as much as $13 on a device to help you get rid of mosquitoes, or you can spend as much as $1,300, just depending on your concerns over mosquitoes. Of course, a lot of people are concerned about West Nile virus these days, and we are going show you some of these machines that are on the market right now.

The first one over here which you can see is fairly large. This is from a company called Lentek and called the Mosquito Trap. These are not cheap, first of all. This one goes for close to $400. If you can see down here, this is where the propane tank goes -- whoops, I am sorry -- down here towards the bottom.

The idea behind the propane is it creates carbon dioxide, which attracts the mosquitoes into a net and is meant to keep them there, essentially.

All of them have a slightly different design. This next one over here is called the Mosquito Magnet Liberty from American Biophysics Corporation. This one has a range of about one acre. The previous one had a range of about three quarters of an acre. That is sort of the difference in price. This one goes for about $500. Again, uses propane, and it is carbon dioxide, as well as different colors, sometimes heat. They have a lot of proprietary things, as well, involved with these machines.

And the next one is also from American Biophysics. This is the Mosquito Magnet Defender. This one is a step down. It is a half acre coverage in terms of the mosquitoes it brings in. This goes for about $300. And again, they are all meant to be sort of weather durable and fairly easy to assemble. And finally, if you remember fly paper, this one uses a similar type of technology. If you can see here, this paper right here is very sticky. It is called the Eco-Trap. Again, from Lentek. This one goes for about $200, and it uses the similar type of thing, bringing in the mosquitoes. They also say it uses the color, vibration, carbon dioxide, a combination of all of these things. A slightly less size area, has about a quarter of an acre coverage.

And finally, if you don't want to spend all this money, you can just use a device like this. It is touted as using sound, ultrasound, to deter mosquitoes. This one goes for about $13, called the Mosquito Repeller.

So that's just a sampling of some of these products. Whether they work or not, the effectiveness of them is up for question. We didn't actually review these. We should point that out.

But to talk about West Nile virus and some of the other concerns people have over mosquitoes, I want to bring in Dr. Margo Brinton. She is a virologist at Georgia State University.

First of all, Dr. Brinton, we have heard a lot people worried about West Nile virus. Is it overblown? Are people's fears overblown in some cases?

DR. MARGO BRINTON, GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY: It is certainly a concern, and we don't know how many cases there will be in Georgia, and it's possible because it hasn't covered the whole state, that there will be more cases this year.

SIEBERG: So you don't know yet for sure whether it will be worse. What about across the rest of the country outside of Georgia?

BRINTON: Well, it's already spread to Colorado, it's expected to go all the way to California this year. It's in Canada. It will spread to Mexico and we expect it to go through Central and South America as well.

SIEBERG: Now, what can people do, because there are literally hundreds of different species of mosquitoes. Do all of them carry the West Nile virus?

BRINTON: Well, most mosquitoes can be infected, but not all of them efficiently transmit the infection to other hosts, and it's also true that some mosquitoes prefer different species than humans, so they wouldn't be ones that would bite humans very often if ever.

SIEBERG: And just quickly, we have been hearing about a vaccine. If people are concerned beyond just buying some of these different gadgets and so on, is a vaccine a possibility in the future?

BRINTON: There are, certainly, a number of vaccines that are in development. But given that it is very hard to get West Nile -- a recent study by CDC in Louisiana showed that only about 2 percent of people were infected in areas where there was a lot of transmission between mosquitoes and birds, given that not many people get infected and vaccines -- they always have a risk associated with them, I'm not sure it's a good idea to vaccinate large numbers of people.

SIEBERG: All right. Well, Dr. Margo Brinton, a biologist from Georgia State University. Thanks so much for joining to us to talk about West Nile virus, and of course, all of these different gadgets -- and there are other things out on the market, Leon, whether it's a spray, a lotion, DEET we have been hearing a lot about, even just long sleeves to protect yourself, so just depends on how concerned you are and how much money you want to spend, but the technology is certainly out there -- Leon, back to you.

HARRIS: You don't have to go outside and stink anymore.

SIEBERG: Right. Exactly.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired June 4, 2003 - 11:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A mild winter and a wet spring could mean more mosquitoes than usual this year, and that could mean more worry about West Nile virus.
CNN Technology Reporter Daniel Sieberg has an update for us this morning on the latest gadgets out there on the market to beat the bugs -- hey, Dan.

DAN SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Hey, that's right. Good morning, Leon. You know, think of it as the evolution of the bug zapper. If you -- you can spend as much as $13 on a device to help you get rid of mosquitoes, or you can spend as much as $1,300, just depending on your concerns over mosquitoes. Of course, a lot of people are concerned about West Nile virus these days, and we are going show you some of these machines that are on the market right now.

The first one over here which you can see is fairly large. This is from a company called Lentek and called the Mosquito Trap. These are not cheap, first of all. This one goes for close to $400. If you can see down here, this is where the propane tank goes -- whoops, I am sorry -- down here towards the bottom.

The idea behind the propane is it creates carbon dioxide, which attracts the mosquitoes into a net and is meant to keep them there, essentially.

All of them have a slightly different design. This next one over here is called the Mosquito Magnet Liberty from American Biophysics Corporation. This one has a range of about one acre. The previous one had a range of about three quarters of an acre. That is sort of the difference in price. This one goes for about $500. Again, uses propane, and it is carbon dioxide, as well as different colors, sometimes heat. They have a lot of proprietary things, as well, involved with these machines.

And the next one is also from American Biophysics. This is the Mosquito Magnet Defender. This one is a step down. It is a half acre coverage in terms of the mosquitoes it brings in. This goes for about $300. And again, they are all meant to be sort of weather durable and fairly easy to assemble. And finally, if you remember fly paper, this one uses a similar type of technology. If you can see here, this paper right here is very sticky. It is called the Eco-Trap. Again, from Lentek. This one goes for about $200, and it uses the similar type of thing, bringing in the mosquitoes. They also say it uses the color, vibration, carbon dioxide, a combination of all of these things. A slightly less size area, has about a quarter of an acre coverage.

And finally, if you don't want to spend all this money, you can just use a device like this. It is touted as using sound, ultrasound, to deter mosquitoes. This one goes for about $13, called the Mosquito Repeller.

So that's just a sampling of some of these products. Whether they work or not, the effectiveness of them is up for question. We didn't actually review these. We should point that out.

But to talk about West Nile virus and some of the other concerns people have over mosquitoes, I want to bring in Dr. Margo Brinton. She is a virologist at Georgia State University.

First of all, Dr. Brinton, we have heard a lot people worried about West Nile virus. Is it overblown? Are people's fears overblown in some cases?

DR. MARGO BRINTON, GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY: It is certainly a concern, and we don't know how many cases there will be in Georgia, and it's possible because it hasn't covered the whole state, that there will be more cases this year.

SIEBERG: So you don't know yet for sure whether it will be worse. What about across the rest of the country outside of Georgia?

BRINTON: Well, it's already spread to Colorado, it's expected to go all the way to California this year. It's in Canada. It will spread to Mexico and we expect it to go through Central and South America as well.

SIEBERG: Now, what can people do, because there are literally hundreds of different species of mosquitoes. Do all of them carry the West Nile virus?

BRINTON: Well, most mosquitoes can be infected, but not all of them efficiently transmit the infection to other hosts, and it's also true that some mosquitoes prefer different species than humans, so they wouldn't be ones that would bite humans very often if ever.

SIEBERG: And just quickly, we have been hearing about a vaccine. If people are concerned beyond just buying some of these different gadgets and so on, is a vaccine a possibility in the future?

BRINTON: There are, certainly, a number of vaccines that are in development. But given that it is very hard to get West Nile -- a recent study by CDC in Louisiana showed that only about 2 percent of people were infected in areas where there was a lot of transmission between mosquitoes and birds, given that not many people get infected and vaccines -- they always have a risk associated with them, I'm not sure it's a good idea to vaccinate large numbers of people.

SIEBERG: All right. Well, Dr. Margo Brinton, a biologist from Georgia State University. Thanks so much for joining to us to talk about West Nile virus, and of course, all of these different gadgets -- and there are other things out on the market, Leon, whether it's a spray, a lotion, DEET we have been hearing a lot about, even just long sleeves to protect yourself, so just depends on how concerned you are and how much money you want to spend, but the technology is certainly out there -- Leon, back to you.

HARRIS: You don't have to go outside and stink anymore.

SIEBERG: Right. Exactly.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com