Natural Insect Repellent Ingredient Found to Protect Against Coronavirus in Preliminary Studies

British scientists have discovered that an active ingredient found in insect repellent can kill COVID-19, according to a report.

Researchers at the UK's Defense Science and Technology Laboratory determined that Citriodiol can help fight coronavirus in a preliminary study, Sky News reported.

Insect repellents containing Citriodiol are not believed to be enough alone to protect people from the virus but can be used as an additional layer of defense along with face masks, hand washing and other health recommendations, according to the report.

Citriodiol — which has approval from the US Environmental Protection Agency — is derived from the leaves and twigs of the eucalyptus citriodora tree.

Jacqueline Watson, managing director of Citrefine, which produces the naturally sourced active ingredient, previously said she was optimistic that it could help stop the spread of the virus.

"What we can say is that we do feel there is a very good chance it could work against this virus but it does of course need to be thoroughly tested," she said.

Previous research has shown that this natural Ingredient also shows very high effectiveness against the spread of diseases typically spread through insect bites, including Dengue fever, West Nile virus and Lyme disease, and more recently to protect against Chikungunya and Zika viruses.

This is very good news to the health conscious among us!  As a personal believer in essential oils and all things natural I will be following this particular topic in the months to come.