Depending on where you live, sand flies can be even worse than mosquitoes. In Florida, we call them no see ‘ums and they are so small that even screen doesn’t keep them out. In Ethiopia, they can carry a parasite that kills a half-million people every year.
This new report on sand flies (
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19854142?ordinalpos=1&itool=Email.EmailReport.Pubmed_ReportSelector.Pubmed_RVDocSum) indicates that 2% neem oil blended into coconut oil provides more than 95% protection for up to seven hours. It notes that the treatment can be a safe and cost-effective method of personal protection against the insects and calls for additional plantings so that the oils are easily available. (The study also looked at Chinaberry oil and a blend of neem and Chinaberry.)
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