Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) think they can fight the scourge of tick-borne diseases by encouraging people to douse their clothes in a chemical called permethrin. 
 
 In a new study, published today (May 24) in the Journal of Medical Entomology, researchers showed that permethrin-treated clothes can seriously mess up a tick's stride. Stick some adult ticks on a pair of regular pants tilted at a 45-degree angle, and 100 percent of them will still be clinging on 5 minutes later. Stick adult ticks on a pair of tilted pants treated with permethrin, though, and 42.5 percent will tumble off entirely. Even those that remain get seriously messed up. The researchers found that only 25 percent of the ticks were moving normally even 24 hours after exposure. 
 
 "All tested tick species and life stages experienced irritation, the 'hot-foot' effect, after coming into contact with permethrin-treated clothing," Lars Eisen, a CDC entomologist who worked on the study, said in a statement. 
 
 Permethrin isn't a new chemical. You can already buy clothes coated in the stuff, which one manufacturer markets as repelling "mosquitoes, ticks, ants, flies, chiggers and midges" and persisting on the clothes through at least 70 rounds in the washing machine. Drugs.com recommends it as a treatment for lice and scabies, and states that it's not known to be toxic to humans — though it can cause some mild irritation in some people. 
 
 Researchers said in the paper that it's still not known how long permethrin remains effective in clothing, because all the clothes they tested were "pristine" and freshly treated. But these results do suggest real benefits to permethrin-treated socks, pants and other clothes, they said. 
 
 Ticks are responsible for a number of serious diseases, as Live Science has previously reported, including Lyme disease. And their range appears to be spreading, likely due to climate change . That means that, for scientists at the CDC, the project of stopping them is ever more urgent. 
 
 Originally published on Live Science. ||||| To Repel Ticks, Try Spraying Your Clothes With A Pesticide That Mimics Mums 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption Pearl Mak/NPR Pearl Mak/NPR 
 
 There's new evidence to support a decades-old strategy for preventing the tick bites that lead to all sorts of nasty diseases, including Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. 
 
 The remedy involves spraying your clothing with permethrin — a pesticide that's chemically similar to extracts of the flowering chrysanthemum plant. 
 
 Back in the 1980s, the U.S. military conducted several tests on a synthetic version of the plant-derived pesticide. When it was shown to be effective in preventing the bites of insects and ticks, the military began to purchase uniforms for soldiers that are factory-treated with permethrin. 
 
 Now, many outdoor enthusiasts are converts, too. 
 
 "I love being outside — whether it's hiking, biking or climbing," says Danny Quinteros, who lives in Washington, D.C., and works at REI. 
 
 Quinteros is planning a hike of the Appalachian Trail, which cuts through many tick-infested areas. And because of the rise in tick-borne diseases, permethrin has become part of his protection routine. 
 
 He takes a can and sprays it on a T-shirt. "You want to stay back about 6 to 8 inches away from the clothing," he says. He applies an even coat, then flips the T-shirt over to spray the back. 
 
 In addition to treating his clothes with permethrin, Quinteros wears a DEET-based repellent to cover his exposed skin when he's outdoors. Together, he says, these two strategies are very effective. 
 
 There's scientific evidence to back up Quinteros' observations. 
 
 "There are several studies that provide pretty compelling evidence that wearing permethrin-treated clothing has the potential to reduce tick bites," says Neeta Connally, a medical entomologist who oversees the Tickborne Disease Prevention Lab at Western Connecticut State University. 
 
 The most recent study, published in May in the Journal of Medical Entomology, comes from researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
 
 Researchers purchased 10 different types of permethrin-treated clothing, including T-shirts, socks and pants from Insect Shield, a purveyor of pretreated clothing. (Bugsaway is another brand of permethrin-treated clothing, and Cabela's sells socks treated with the insecticide.) 
 
 The scientists let loose different species of ticks on a bit of treated cloth from each sample — a piece of cloth the size of a playing card. 
 
 "We wanted to see how long [the ticks would] have to be in contact with the clothing to be incapacitated and die," says Lars Eisen, a research entomologist for the CDC in Fort Collins, Colo., and one of the study's authors. 
 
 The ticks quickly become irritated after being exposed to the pesticide, Eisen says. 
 
 "They essentially start flipping backwards and start rolling off the treated clothing," he says. 
 
 The black-legged tick — also known as the deer tick — which can transmit the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, was one of the species tested. 
 
 When black-legged nymphs (young ticks that are no bigger than a poppy seed) came into contact with the treated clothing, it took them "less than a minute" to receive a dose of permethrin that killed them, Eisen says. 
 
 And even though the ticks don't die instantly, the permethrin quickly incapacitates them so they're unable to bite. 
 
 So, if permethrin-treated clothing is so effective, why don't more people use it? 
 
 For example, in one Lyme prevention study published in 2009 that Connally and her team conducted in Connecticut, less than 1 percent of study participants said they ever wear treated clothing. 
 
 And even though awareness is growing, she says, a more recent survey "found that many respondents were uncertain about the effectiveness and safety of treated clothing." 
 
 Permethrin has been registered with the Environmental Protection Agency since 1979, and the EPA periodically re-evaluates it. 
 
 It's an EPA-registered product, "which means it must be studied for safety," Connally says. 
 
 According to the EPA website, "All exposure scenarios showed that permethrin factory-treated clothing is unlikely to pose any significant immediate or long-term hazard to people wearing the clothing." Using permethrin spray according to directions to treat your own clothes should also pose little risk, the agency says. 
 
 The National Pesticide Information Center notes that some people who inadvertently get the insecticide spray on their skin may experience temporary tingling, redness or irritation at that site, but not serious symptoms. 
 
 Permethrin lotions and creams are also routinely used to treat head lice and scabies in people 2 months of age and older. 
 
 "I absolutely wear permethrin-treated clothing," say Connally, who has no financial ties to makers of permethrin or the treated clothes. 
 
 And she says many of the researchers in her lab wear treated overalls to protect themselves while doing research. 
 
 "When I think of the potentially serious illnesses that my family members or I could get from a single tick bite, I feel very comfortable wearing treated clothing," she says.
– In an especially nasty year for ticks, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a statement about a possible method for preventing the spread of diseases carried by their bites, Live Science reports. By spraying clothing with an insecticide called permethrin, experts believe you can cause the bugs to get so-called "hot feet" and fall off before transmitting germs that cause Lyme and other tick-borne diseases like Rocky Mountain spotted fever. According to a study published in the Entomological Society of America's Journal of Medical Entomology, permethrin caused ticks of multiple species to fall off clothing and, after prolonged exposure, caused their movements to become uncoordinated. The findings are more solid evidence that covering up with clothing and applying insecticide are two vital steps to preventing tick-borne illness. Meanwhile, the number of Americans catching diseases from tiny bloodsucking creatures is going up at an alarming rate, federal authorities warn. According to the latest report from the CDC, the number of reported illnesses caused by ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas more than tripled between 2004 and 2016—and since many illnesses go unreported, the true total is probably much higher than the 642,602 cases reported over the period. In the case of Lyme disease, the number of illnesses may be up to 10 times the 36,429 cases the CDC recorded for 2016, the Washington Post reports. Analysts say other such diseases—including recently discovered ones like Powassan virus—are on the rise in the Northeast, California, and the upper Midwest and partially blame warmer weather, which is causing longer tick seasons and expanded insect ranges.