Tim - I think you need to write to this guy...

[Guest guest]

This appeared in " ask the bug man " column in the SF Chronicle:

Q: My daughter and I live separately and have both suffered for more

than a year from bites from insects we have never seen. Something

like scabies, but among the differences is the fact that these (or

their eggs) can survive indefinitely off the human body. Treating the

body and house as one would scabies (wash everything daily in very

hot water, use a prescription cream on the body) diminishes their

number but does not eliminate them.

Can you be of any help in identifying them or suggesting ways to get

rid of them? My dermatologist has no idea what they are. My daughter

thinks she picked them up in a hotel room in Denver.

A: You should get your homes inspected to determine if any bird or

rodent mites are present. However, what you described does not sound

like mites of any kind.

I know some people swear that mites can live in or on them and can

cite pages from www.birdmites.org to back up their theories.

Unfortunately that Web site is totally inaccurate. People who suffer

from Morgellons disease use that Web site as evidence of

their " infestation. "

I have examined hundreds of specimens of " mites " people have sent me

and on only two occasions were there any arthropods at all, and they

weren't mites. They were larval skins of dermestid beetles, which can

cause irritation in some people. When you have your home inspected,

the inspector should also look for signs of dermestid beetles.

Fagerlund is a pest management specialist who promotes non-

toxic methods of pest control. For information or to contact him, see

www.askthebugman.com.

This article appeared on page F - 5 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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Bessie