Hi all. I know this isn't quite bedbug related, but I have seen discussions of mites here and there are very few forums on them, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
Long story short:
Me and my family are from Oklahoma. We have suffered from a rodent mite infestation from May of this year until now. We have had to abandon our home due to the problem. It is so bad to the point that I have had to create a gofundme for my parents ( I won't link it unless you wanna see the bare, torn up pictures of our house) but we have lost everything we have ever known. I fled the home in late July-August and fled to my boyfriend's family's home in Texas. I am STILL trying to rid of them here.
To make this clear, these things get in: cars, clothes, bedding, and most anything that contains cotton or fabric. They also, regardless of whatever literature tells you, travel easily with you. I would know--skipping hotels lead them to traveling directly on my clothes with me.
We are out of thousands of dollars from fumigating, spraying, fogging--you name it! We've hired over six pest control companies who acknowledged the problem ( one saw the black specs running around on the window sill ) and all experts have RULED OUT bedbugs. The only thing related to this is the previous owners of the home had mice and knew this, but did NOT disclose this. There were mice traps up there, and we had to hire a company at great expense to remove insulation in the attic where the mice were. This is an embarrassing, heart-breaking and costly problem for many families, but many people are blown off by entomologists or "experts" who aren't reading the latest literature on mites, namely, that they are beginning to switch host ( there's an NIH article on this). In otherwords, why would a mite care what blood it gets, particularly if it bites mammals? Our dogs were bitten severely as well, and had to be bathed regularly in sulphur ( no, there was no flea infestation either, and many vets checked).
Please understand that I'm not trying to insult those who study these things. But the errenous belief that they can't somehow live on us is wrong. Even if they aren't living on us, they're surviving easily, because I still have them, brought them to my boyfriend's home despite precautions, and we still are suffering. These things bite night and day ( but are more active in evening) and leave small to sometimes larger pimple bites, or pinprick bites, depending on what they feel like doing I guess. I have had to drop out of college next semester because like a refugee, I have literally had to flee my home. The areas they love are under the breast, the nether regions, and they LOVE To crawl into noses and get into eyes while you sleep.
Now that you've heard our story, where can we find assistance? We've called the health department, CDC, pest control after pest control. You name it, we've tried it. Also, now that my parents are homeless, they are pretty much just hotel hopping and running out of money because instead of actually listening to people suffering from the issue, experts just want to beat around the topic. What I find unbelievable is articles like this exist: http://www.wral.com/family-returns-home-after-bird-mite-invasion/2107991/ but nobody likes to admit that it happens.
I sympathize with those of you with bedbugs, I really do. It's really similar, but in fact, more devastating, because most pest control companies cannot treat mites. They are arachnids, and much more resistant to the majority of chemicals. Mites also reproduce EXTREMELY rapidly. So rapidly, in fact, that despite our cleaning efforts, pest companies and remedies, they just seem to keep coming back, even when I'm 500 miles away. It boggles my mind that there are countless stories of these, and yet, experts just stick their fingers in their ears.
We are in Oklahoma, if it helps, but we've tried every avenue.
Sincerely,
throwaway