How to physically clean a USB connector safely

I have a USB flash drive, and the male USB connector on it has gotten rather disgustingly sticky (lent it to colleague with small child, he let the child play with it (never again))

Can anyone advise on how to give it a throrough clean?

I've given it a wipe using dry cloth and gotten the worst off, but it is still tacky to the touch.

Isopropyl alcohol (aka: Rubbing alcohol). You may be able to buy some at a local pharmacy/chemist, but I usually have to get mine online. It's great for cleaning off cooked-on thermal paste - it shouldn't have an issue with some sticky finger stuff.

Use some compressed air? Or some Cyber Clean?

Try using alcohol swabs. I have found them useful for cleaning keyboards, sd memory cards, data sticks, and they work great on cleaning laptop screens as well. After cleaning the laptop screen, buff the the screen with something non-abrasive (a kleenex or a cloth diaper).