Uganda turns local catnip into low-cost mosquito repellent that matches DEET

In rural Uganda, researchers and community partners have shown that a familiar plant can be turned into an inexpensive mosquito repellent, processing locally grown catnip into a lotion that performed as well as DEET in testing.

What’s happening?

The Wales-Uganda effort is the first to make a highly effective, low-cost repellent from catnip cultivated in rural Uganda, the Society for Experimental Biology reported.

At the center of the project is nepetalactone, a compound in catnip essential oil that is known both for prompting euphoric behavior in cats and for repelling insects. The team presented the work in Florence, Italy, at SEB’s annual conference.

To see how the substance worked in practice, the researchers made a catnip-oil hand lotion called DSK and evaluated it in laboratory and field trials. “We found that 6% catnip oil was just as effective as DEET, and 2% catnip oil was only marginally less effective than that,” Simon Scofield, a senior lecturer at Cardiff University, said.

For Ugandans, the appeal is practical as well as scientific. Catnip can be grown locally in rural areas, the oil is relatively easy to extract, and users say it smells better than DEET. That matters in a place where DEET products can be costly to import.

The work also opens the door to a community enterprise model, giving rural Ugandans an opportunity to produce a product that could protect health while creating local income.

Why does it matter?

Mosquito-borne diseases remain a major threat across many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, especially in malaria-endemic regions. A repellent that is effective, affordable, and locally available could help families reduce bites and infections.

Repellents, bed nets, and other bite-reduction tools can lower risk in daily life, particularly in places where access to imported products may be limited or costly.

The researchers are also pushing for prevention strategies that do not depend only on treatment drugs. “There is a real need to reduce the reliance on malaria medicines because malaria can develop resistance to drugs,” Scofield said. “Mosquito repellents represent one of the primary measures used to reduce the risk of malaria by reducing mosquito landing and biting events.”

Even though nepetalactone’s insect-repelling effects have been recognized for a long time, it has not been commercially developed. Because the compound cannot be patented, pharmaceutical companies have less incentive to invest in it.

If a repellent is cheaper than DEET, works similarly, and is more pleasant to use, protection may be more realistic for more people.

What’s being done?

The team is testing whether catnip oil can function as a repellent at scale. Its results show it could become part of everyday prevention in places where mosquito-borne disease is a persistent problem.

Because the repellent also works well against other biting insects, including midges and ticks, Scofield said the project could extend beyond Uganda to other parts of Africa and farther.

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