Tropical Rat Mite – Not So Sunny in the Tropics

Over the past two weeks we’ve had two customers dealing with tropical rat mites. In both cases the bites seemed to come out of no where.

The first case involved an elderly couple in Laguna Niguel that recently had pest control work done by a local pest company. The pest companies activity seemed to stir up the rats and the couple began to experience small red marks on their skin, randomly, over their entire body. When we were called out to find a solution we were more than prepared to do the work since we’ve dealt with rat mites many times in the past. After cleaning the entire attic and removing the insulation we decontaminated utilizing a procedure that would not only kill bacteria, and viruses, but also any parasites in the attic as well. We also decontaminated the bedrooms for any rat mites. The homeowners moved out for the weekend and were able to move back in the following week.

In the next instance a couple from Hancock Park was enduring an infestation over a long period of time. One day they found one of the mites on their skin and examined the parasite under a microscope. The couple found that they were infested with “Tropical Rat Mites”.

While they weren’t very concerned with the bites on themselves, that came out of nowhere, the couple recently had a beautiful baby girl and needed to protect her health. Again, we performed a full attic cleaning service that included removing all the insulation, cleaning up the droppings, and decontaminating the attic. We also found the crawlspace to be infested. We cleaned and decontaminated the area in order to get rid of the rat mites. After the attic was cleaned and decontaminated we came back the next day to install new insulation. The most difficult part of the job was the attic being only four feet high, imagine working in that all day.

In both cases we were able to not only get rid of all the rat contamination by cleaning up the droppings and removing the insulation, but also to get rid of the rat mites by properly decontaminating the affected areas.

The following is information about rat mites from the Illinois Department of Health:
Rodent and bird mites may bite people when their hosts die or abandon their nests. Three types of rodent mites readily bite humans: the house mouse mite (Liponyssoides saguineus), spiny rat mite (Laelaps echidnina) and tropical rat mite (Ornithonyssus bacoti). The house mouse mite prefers to suck the blood of mice, but also will bite rats and people, often causing a rash around the bite. They prefer warm places (e.g., around pipes and furnaces) where rodents live. The spiny rat mite feeds on rats at night and hides by day in cracks and crevices around rat nests and resting places. The tropical rat mite’s bite is painful and causes skin irritation and itching.