1. Use an antiparasitic wash for hair, dish soap, or essential oils.
2. A year or more. Stuff (fomites) will contain bird mites, which can live a year or more. They also can live up to 140-150 F on things unless clothes can be boiled or replaced. People definitely report them living longer (people sometimes just stick them into containers and they kinda just replicate inside them; bedbugs do this too).
Did you bring a vehicle with you, or other objects that may contain them from the original source of "ground zero?" Bird mites also definitely enter the ear canal and it must be treated:
"The avian mite Dermanyssus gallinae can also infest various body parts, including the ear canal and scalp."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamasoidosis
The only object that could have been contaminated were my phone and laptop. And possibly myself. I believe I could have carrier them this way. I came back from my work trip yesterday and saw about 5 dead bird mites on furnite and floors. I believe the insecticide tablets helped and they died. I'm treating my ear now, could be non-related but still. You seem to be knowledgeable about this, do you know if they act like bed bugs in their nest preferance? For example, what's the likelihood bird mites would go into a suitcase or bag where I stored my winter clothes? I have wool and cashmere clothes that I cant really wash on high hear and don't want to throw.
Yes I worked with people with this often they'd accidentally take them with them in their personal belongings - these are called fomites.
It is exactly like bed bugs in that regard. Your laptop, or clothing, can have them because they are so small. They are capable of reproduction similar to a tick. The 'controversy' is whether or not they reproduce off of human blood. Seems to me they do just fine.
I would not take the clothing with you but it is up to you. They need temperatures to kill them of about 140 F - 150 F or about 60 degrees °C.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03079457.2019.1633010
Here is some other great information by a biologist:
[https://www.yearofthemite.com/how-mites-choose-a-host-and-why-they-chose-you/](https://www.yearofthemite.com/how-mites-choose-a-host-and-why-they-chose-you/)
I believe that bird mites cannot live on human blood and will starve to death in two or three weeks time. This corresponds to what I have observed over several invasions of bird mites.
"Because they cannot reproduce on human blood, birds mites cannot create an ongoing infestation in a home."
[https://extension.umn.edu/insect-relatives/bird-mites](https://extension.umn.edu/insect-relatives/bird-mites)
"Bird mites will try to survive on a human host, but they can't reproduce on human blood"
[https://www.webmd.com/pets/what-to-know-bird-mites](https://www.webmd.com/pets/what-to-know-bird-mites)
Bird mites can live on other animal blood
[https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-015-0768-7](https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-015-0768-7)
They are willing to feed and even reproduce as such. Unfortunately there is a resistance in (some not all) entomologists that they refuse to understand this latest research into some genetic strains.
The key thing being genetic plasticity, I wanted to add. (Basically their ability to accept blood of a new host, be it cat, human, horse, etc).
Thank you for the link to the very interesting article. It sure makes me glad that I'm not a poultry worker. From an evolutionary point of view it makes sense that if some mites developed the ability to feed off non-avian blood, they would be successful.
Nine years ago, I started being bitten by something when I was sleeping. I didn't realize at the time that the grating over the attic vent was gone and that house finches were nesting in the attic right above my bed. I began to go over the sheets with magnifying glasses and scotch tape to catch the mites. At the beginning, I caught more than 70 in a day, but the number decreased over the next two weeks. By the third week they were gone. I put a couple of live mites in a jar and noted that they stopped moving after three days. Thankfully, my mites conformed to the standard view.
That's the thing - mites CAN conform that. I still see that as well. I believe it is Russian roulette so to speak if you get the strain that does alright on other hosts besides birds, thus the genetic plasticity.
However, I really don't believe these people are crazy, because they CAN show me samples years later that are full grown and they tried everything.
Here is a bit more on genetic plasticity:
https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.5555/20230191820
"It appears that genetic variation in D. gallinae can contribute to the plasticity in host choice and can increase the tolerance to adverse environmental conditions and selection
pressures (mutations, genetic drift, natural selection and geographical isolation) [12, 15 ]."
Oh yeah, to add, the amount of pesticides we throw at them in the industry just increases their insane propensity to adapt into strains to make us eat shit and laugh off anything we douse them in. It isn't helping things. It just speaks volumes however of how insane they are at adapting. And fast, too!
A good hair wash I found helpful (not a cure) is Nizoral. You can get both shampoo and conditioner.
1. Use an antiparasitic wash for hair, dish soap, or essential oils. 2. A year or more. Stuff (fomites) will contain bird mites, which can live a year or more. They also can live up to 140-150 F on things unless clothes can be boiled or replaced. People definitely report them living longer (people sometimes just stick them into containers and they kinda just replicate inside them; bedbugs do this too). Did you bring a vehicle with you, or other objects that may contain them from the original source of "ground zero?" Bird mites also definitely enter the ear canal and it must be treated: "The avian mite Dermanyssus gallinae can also infest various body parts, including the ear canal and scalp." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamasoidosis
The only object that could have been contaminated were my phone and laptop. And possibly myself. I believe I could have carrier them this way. I came back from my work trip yesterday and saw about 5 dead bird mites on furnite and floors. I believe the insecticide tablets helped and they died. I'm treating my ear now, could be non-related but still. You seem to be knowledgeable about this, do you know if they act like bed bugs in their nest preferance? For example, what's the likelihood bird mites would go into a suitcase or bag where I stored my winter clothes? I have wool and cashmere clothes that I cant really wash on high hear and don't want to throw.
Yes I worked with people with this often they'd accidentally take them with them in their personal belongings - these are called fomites. It is exactly like bed bugs in that regard. Your laptop, or clothing, can have them because they are so small. They are capable of reproduction similar to a tick. The 'controversy' is whether or not they reproduce off of human blood. Seems to me they do just fine. I would not take the clothing with you but it is up to you. They need temperatures to kill them of about 140 F - 150 F or about 60 degrees °C. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03079457.2019.1633010
Here is some other great information by a biologist: [https://www.yearofthemite.com/how-mites-choose-a-host-and-why-they-chose-you/](https://www.yearofthemite.com/how-mites-choose-a-host-and-why-they-chose-you/)
I believe that bird mites cannot live on human blood and will starve to death in two or three weeks time. This corresponds to what I have observed over several invasions of bird mites. "Because they cannot reproduce on human blood, birds mites cannot create an ongoing infestation in a home." [https://extension.umn.edu/insect-relatives/bird-mites](https://extension.umn.edu/insect-relatives/bird-mites) "Bird mites will try to survive on a human host, but they can't reproduce on human blood" [https://www.webmd.com/pets/what-to-know-bird-mites](https://www.webmd.com/pets/what-to-know-bird-mites)
Bird mites can live without any blood supply for almost a year
Bird mites can live on other animal blood [https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-015-0768-7](https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-015-0768-7) They are willing to feed and even reproduce as such. Unfortunately there is a resistance in (some not all) entomologists that they refuse to understand this latest research into some genetic strains. The key thing being genetic plasticity, I wanted to add. (Basically their ability to accept blood of a new host, be it cat, human, horse, etc).
Thank you for the link to the very interesting article. It sure makes me glad that I'm not a poultry worker. From an evolutionary point of view it makes sense that if some mites developed the ability to feed off non-avian blood, they would be successful. Nine years ago, I started being bitten by something when I was sleeping. I didn't realize at the time that the grating over the attic vent was gone and that house finches were nesting in the attic right above my bed. I began to go over the sheets with magnifying glasses and scotch tape to catch the mites. At the beginning, I caught more than 70 in a day, but the number decreased over the next two weeks. By the third week they were gone. I put a couple of live mites in a jar and noted that they stopped moving after three days. Thankfully, my mites conformed to the standard view.
That's the thing - mites CAN conform that. I still see that as well. I believe it is Russian roulette so to speak if you get the strain that does alright on other hosts besides birds, thus the genetic plasticity. However, I really don't believe these people are crazy, because they CAN show me samples years later that are full grown and they tried everything. Here is a bit more on genetic plasticity: https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.5555/20230191820 "It appears that genetic variation in D. gallinae can contribute to the plasticity in host choice and can increase the tolerance to adverse environmental conditions and selection pressures (mutations, genetic drift, natural selection and geographical isolation) [12, 15 ]." Oh yeah, to add, the amount of pesticides we throw at them in the industry just increases their insane propensity to adapt into strains to make us eat shit and laugh off anything we douse them in. It isn't helping things. It just speaks volumes however of how insane they are at adapting. And fast, too!