Mosquito season is here, and as the threat of Zika virus rises in the U.S., people in affected areas need to arm themselves, health officials say. The illness is spread by mosquitoes and some bug sprays can help.

According to Consumer Reports, a number of insect repellents on the market can stop the mosquitoes that transmit the dangerous virus, as well as another mosquito-borne illness, West Nile virus. They put 16 insect repellents to the test to see which ones are the most effective.

"In a laboratory, very brave volunteers put their arms into a cage full of 200 disease-free mosquitoes and we use two types of mosquitoes," Trisha Calvo of Consumer Reports told CBS New York. "One is the Culex mosquito that carries West Nile and the other is the Aedes mosquito that carries Zika."

The results? "We found three ingredients that are safe for everyone to use, even pregnant women, and are very effective. And those are Deet, oil of lemon eucalyptus, and Picaridin," Calvo said.

Sawyer's Fisherman's Formula Picaridin got top results in Consumer Reports testing, keeping mosquitoes away for up to eight hours.

Other top performing repellents on the list include:

•     Ben's 30% DEET Tick & Insect Wilderness Formula

•     Natrapel 8 Hour, with 20 percent picaridin

•     Off! Deepwoods VIII, with 25 percent DEET

•     Repel Lemon Eucalyptus, with 30 percent lemon eucalyptus

•     Repel Scented Family, with 15 percent DEET

Consumer Reports advises skipping most repellents made with natural plant oils such as lemongrass or citronella, which were not very effective in their testing.

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By Mary Brophy Marcus

Source: CBS News