Formula to get rid of ticks a prizewinning idea

A formula to get rid of ticks in animals has won an 18-year-old BSc student at Stellenbosch University a place in an international science learning camp.

Tanja Kellerman is one of about 70 international students chosen for the camp in Israel, which starts today. The five-week camp is part of prizes won at an International Science and Engineering Fair in Mexico, where she won in the plant science division.

Kellerman explains her anti-tick formula: "Some farmers just take the aloes that they find on the farms and cut it and mix with mielies or other food they give their sheep or cattle: the method that I used I take the bitter powder and mix it with a solution and then I give it to my sheep through the mouth: what actually happens is that the blood becomes bitter and the ticks don't like the bitter blood - that's when they fall off."