Dermatitis caused by the tropical rat mite Ornithonyssus bacoti (Acari: Macronyssidae): a case report in humans with Pruritus and Skin Lesions

Background: Mites are small arthropods about 0.2- 0.5 mm which they are important for medical and veterinary purposes.Few mites are specifically human parasite, and some of them can have animal host or human host. Mites like Bird mites and Rat mites are also able to create the side-effects or disease transmission to human.Objectives: Reported cases were related to three members of a family in a residential home with the same symptoms such as erythematous skin lesions in mostly areas of the body including the neck, hands, legs, reins, chest, and abdominal area.Materials and Methods: The samples were collected that have eaten blood and have not eaten blood. In the next stage, the mites were temporarily intercepted and they were detected based on a valid diagnostic key by Pratt and Stojanovich (1969).Results: In this paper, for the first time the bite of Ornithonyssus bacoti is reported with dermatitis symptoms in human from Dezful Township, Khuzestan province in Iran.Conclusion: According to frequency of sewerage mice in most urban and rural areas, it is possible that rats live in sewer lines have infected with the mites (O.bocati) and when the rats are disappeared or moved, their foreign parasites are diffused and they sometimes are attacked to humans that live around these places.

Keywords:

Ornithonyssus bacoti , Rat mites , Human dermatit , Hematophagous mites