I found this mite crawling across my computer monitor at home (nearly a month ago) and I can't tell if it's a rat or bird mite: gallery here, I can't get a closer image due to the very small size of the insect.
I've seen about four or five of them now, all at different times now crawling across my screen, I caught another one today that was a much whiter colour but lost the piece of sticky tape so I couldn't take a picture. My own symptoms are random itchy red marks on my skin which I'm not sure are bites but could possibly be.
Questions:
1. Can these mites survive just on the blood of a human host?
2. There's a known rodent problem at the office where I work and multiple people have reported being bitten. They suspected that it was fleas, but I now think it could possibly be rat mites. Is it possible that some of these mites hitchhiked home on my clothing? Or is it more likely the source is coming from inside my home due to the number I've seen?
3. If these mites are living inside my computer monitor, what's the best way to kill them without damaging the electronics?