Bird Mites Outbreak in the North of Israel

You may have bird mites.

Many people have been popping up with bird mites in the north of Israel lately, and most doctors here don't really know what to do about it because they've never seen it before.  It's apparently something new to the area, but now that they're here, they're probably here to stay.  So those of you out there with dreadlocks or who have pets who sometimes go outdoors will want to pay close attention.

Bird mites are different from lice, and are not killed by the usual pesticides because they are microscopic.  Similar to bed bugs and dust mites, it's impossible to totally get rid of them, but you can keep the population down to low enough levels that they're not so much of a bother.

All of the ingredients you need to keep them down are available in pharmacies here.  If you have a particularly bad infestation, to the point that your arms, legs, and/or body have broken out in a rash, you will need to ask your doctor for specific things that I will list here.

Even if you haven't broken out yet, if you work outdoors, camp, or hike, you will need to do some preventive care.

First things first though.  I am sure that some of you out there are already suffering, and need to know what to do about it right now.
 

If You Are Itching Like Crazy Right Now

1. Inform him that you believe that what you have may be bird mites, and ask him for a cream called "Eurax", which here is sold as Dr. Fisher's Crotamiton 10% lotion.  Get the lotion, not the small tube of cream, because you will need to cover your entire body with it for a week.  You'll go through about a bottle every other day.

Be aware that because scabies is somewhat rare here, and the bird mites outbreak is still somewhat new, most pharmacies don't carry it.  You may have to get them to order it.  Your best bet is to go to smaller local pharmacies first, because they are usually mom & pop places with customer loyalty from people who work outdoors or on farms and such.

Do the treatment as if you have scabies.  Take a good shower, and coat yourself with the lotion from your neck to your toes.  Don't take another shower, but coat yourself again the next day, and the next.  If you can't stand your smell, wipe your creases with baby wipes or something, but don't shower until the third night or fourth morning.  Then shower daily as usual, and coat yourself with the lotion after showering, for another 4 days to a week.

2. On the first day, when you take your initial good shower, wash your hair with my "Rastaguard" anti mites shampoo, and coat it with the oil.  (I'll give the recipe in the next post, for those who like to make their own.)  If you have long braids or dreadlocks, this is the one time you'll break the wet hair rule.  You'll need to wrap your hair in a long, cotton scarf or headwrap, and tie it up so that your hair cannot touch your body.

Unlike lice, bird mites usually don't like to live in hair, but they will hide in it during the day to wait to bite your body at night.  So the idea is to trap and kill any that are hiding in your hair, and prevent them from getting to your body.

On the third or fourth day, when you take the next shower, wash and oil your hair again.  Then wash and oil it every other day for the next week.  Remember to keep it tied up away from your body until the treatment is done.

3.  Meanwhile, wash all of your clothes and bedding at 60 degrees Celsius.  Put 10 drops of tea tree oil in with the fabric softener.  Iron what you can.  Also clean your house to a "fine, fine Navy clean".

A "fine, fine Navy clean" is even more intense than a hospital clean.  It's the kind of clean that a ship is before inspection.  Every corner is clean, even the ones around doorways.  Shake out your computer keyboard and vacuum it and electronic devices.  Vacuum your mattresses and shoes.

Wet dust plastic, stone, walls you can reach, and non porous surfaces using a 10% solution of lemon juice or vinegar and water or "degreaser".  On wood, use a citrus infused oil or lemon Pledge.

4.  Don't bother with pesticides.  Use deodorant.  Sano "Dai" kills mites, but you will be filling your home with poison every day trying to use it to control bird mites.  A better solution is deodorant containing Aluminum Chlorohydrate.

The Careline spray deodorant in the white bottles has this in it.  Spray it lightly on your bed an hour before you go to sleep every night during your treatment, and about once a week after that.  Spray a little once a week in your closets and over any bedding you have stored.

5.  Consider the source.  Usually, bird mites come from birds, especially their nests.  If just before you started to break out, the municipality or your building association had the branches trimmed on trees around your home, or you started dating a guy who works on a poultry farm or in a pet store, this is probably how you got them.

So if you got them from the trees around your home, sprinkle some diatomaceous earth around your yard, and line the corners of places around your building with it.  As cute as bird's nests may be, you'll also want to have them removed if they're close to your windows and such.  Have a professional do this instead of doing it yourself.

Spray your screens, shades, or curtains with the deodorant so that any mites that float onto them are weighed down or killed.

One thing that is very important to note is that until you've got your infestation under control, you are contagious.  Bird mites are everywhere in the north now, but they can be controlled so long as everybody is relatively clean.  So you're not really contagious forever, but if you have adults running rampant on your body and clothes, those active adults can spread very easily and become an out of control infestation for someone else.

Many people I've seen who are currently itching didn't get it from birds near their home or pets.  Some got it from another person who is just dirty and thinks infestation is normal.  So be careful who you hug or spend time with.  If you see them with unexplained rashes, inform them or get used to the idea of showering with "Rastaguard" after every time you visit them.

6.  After treatment, even when you've got the infestation down, you may still have an allergic reaction.  Use hydrocortisone cream, alow vera, or other anti itch treatments to calm down your skin.

Just remember to keep good hygeine, and use the preventive care tips in the next section.
 

If You're Not Itching Now, But Don't Want to Start

Keep your residence clean and free of too much dust.  Bird mites travel the same way dust mites do.  Sweep your floors and dust weekly.  In the summer, if you don't have air conditioning, this can be a drag, so don't stress over it.  Just do a little at a time.  Slowly is better than not at all.

Again, be careful who you hug and hang around.  If you're going to a festival, take some Rastaguard with you.  Share it with others.  You don't want to be unfriendly, so invite others to join in your natural cleanliness.

Rastaguard Anti Mites and Lice Recipe

• 25 drops Tea Tree (ti tree) oil
• 15 drops eucalyptus oil
• 15 drops rosemary (rosmarin) oil
• 10 drops mint oil
• 5 drops bergamot oil
• 5 drops lavender oil
• 2 drops citronella oil or 5 drops orange oil

Rastaguard Body and Hair Oil

• .5 liter mineral oil (baby oil or "liquid paraffin")
• .5 liter olive oil
• 1 heaping tablespoon unrefined shea butter
• 1 teaspoon oblipicha (sea buckthorn) oil

The reason I use mineral oil in this recipe, even though I would normally use only vegetable oils for other purposes is because mites and lice HATE mineral oil.  It gunks up their system and eventually they die of starvation.
 

Usage

Prevention

Treatment

Use the body wash every day that you shower for up to two weeks.  Be advised that if you are also using a crotamiton cream, your skin will become very sensitive, so you should stop using the Rastaguard body wash and the oil on your body after 2 weeks.  Continue to use the shampoo every week or 2 weeks though.
 

Warnings!