This mite just be what's itching you

Chicago Tribune ^ | 8/15/07 | James Janega

[1 spark]

The mystery nibblers have interrupted a pool party in Bolingbrook and picnics at Ravinia. They've been blamed for itchy splotches from western Kane County to Michigan vacation grounds. They've attacked in Willow Springs, Chicago Heights and La Grange.

Nobody knows exactly what's causing the rash of rashes, but authorities think they've got a good idea of what they're dealing with, anyway—and they warn that it's likely something small, invasive and really annoying.

Biting mites.

"We don't have positive identification on the type of mite that it is. We do know that it is a mite," said Kitty Loewy, spokeswoman for the Cook County Department of Public Health.

Scientists haven't been able to catch one yet—they are incredibly small—but the belief that mites have invaded Illinois is based on the telltale rash that develops after the bites.

Experts say the suspected mite probably is new to the area, joining a rogues' gallery of gnawing, invasive bugs that include the Asian tiger mosquito and the Asian ladybird beetle, all recent and probably permanent residents thanks to an increasingly interconnected world of shipping and transportation.

It will take at least another day to be sure, however. On Tuesday, authorities peered at dozens of sticky traps left overnight in forest preserves, golf courses and private wooded land, but had no luck at catching and identifying the exact mite in question. More traps were set out Tuesday night.

[1 spark]

FYI

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-web_itchmiteaug15,1,1584611.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout&ctrack=2&cset=true

[steveo]

This might be a fun thread.

[Mercat]

chiggers?

[Wings-n-Wind]

chiggers?

*****

Got my vote... Mercat

[jra]

That’s not a PC term...it’s chegroes.

[Hot Tabasco]

There ain't no bugs on me,

There ain't no bugs on me,

There might be bugs on some of you lugs but there ain't no bugs on me......

[HIDEK6]

That’s not a PC term...it’s chegroes.

I don't care who you are, that's funny.

[Mercat]

that’s such an old old joke. But some good friends of ours have a terrible infestation of chiggers in their backyard (eastern Kansas) and we were telling our European houseguest about them and explaining that it was not a racist word. Chris said she had told some east coast friends about it and they really did think it was a racist term. LOL

[Disambiguator]

That’s not a PC term...it’s chegroes.

Not even that is PC. Try Arachno-Americans.

[BoneHead]

scabies? You’re not going to like what you find if you google Scabies.

[Safetgiver]

Really, really, really small crabs. ComesfFrom really, really, really big......

[AngelesCrestHighway]

The possibility of “President Hillary” makes me itch more....

[wrench]

Called red bugs here. I itch for a month after a stroll in the pinestraw.

[lilylangtree]

Cooties, Inc.

[Joe 6-pack]

"But some good friends of ours have a terrible infestation of chiggers in their backyard (eastern Kansas)..."

I've never been tore up by chiggers like I was during three years at Ft. Riley.

[SpinnerWebb]

To: 1 spark
chiggers?

To: Mercat
That’s not a PC term...it’s chegroes.

This caused one of those “cube-based personal emissions” they used to warn us about. WAY funny.

[listenhillary]

Clear nail polish works pretty good for chiggers. Paint a couple of layers over the red itchy area.

Of course chiggers like warm moist areas, so you know that you will itch in the places you are least likely to want to scratch in public.

[ErnBatavia]

[reagan_fanatic]

Scabies is caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei, variety hominis, as shown by the Italian biologist Diacinto Cestoni in the 18th century. It produces intense, itchy skin rashes when the impregnated female tunnels into the stratum corneum of the skin and deposits eggs in the burrow. The larvae, which hatch in 3-10 days, move about on the skin, molt into a "nymphal" stage, and then mature into adult mites. The adult mites live 3-4 weeks in the host's skin.

The action of the mites moving within the skin and on the skin itself produces an intense itch which may resemble an allergic reaction in appearance. The presence of the eggs produces a massive allergic response which, in turn, produces more itching.

Yikes.

[ErnBatavia]

[Snoopers-868th]

Made me laugh. Though I had a bug on my screen. Cool post.

[ErnBatavia]

I stick that one in mail on occasion...drives ‘em gnuts.

[fella]

Someone needs to ask Osomma (Ooops I mean) Obamma, what he intends to do about this C-word problem.

[redhead]

(scratch)Making me (scratch) itch just (scratch, scratch) reading the (scratch) thread (scritch, scratch, scratch)...

[TexasRepublic]

That’s “bugs of color” to you, fella. ;-)

[lightman]

I tried to flick the d@mn thing!

[ConservativeOrBust]

Do you know how long that jingle takes to get out of your head once it gets in there? Thanks a bunch.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Mites of color?

[William Tell]

You got me good. Looks just like the gnats that often find their way to my laptop screen.

[Joe 6-pack]

"Clear nail polish works pretty good for chiggers."

I normally soak the afflicted area in gasoline for about 15 minutes, then light it on fire and shoot them when they crawl out of the ashes. It does leave some scarring but I've yet to find a more effective treatment.

[Grammy]

Great.

So now are you going to tell me that little spider web cracking on my screen is one of your jokes too?

8-)

[Grammy]

LOL

The most effective treatment I’ve found for chiggers (just saying the word makes me itch for a month) is chemo.

Don’t laugh. When I was having chemo 4 years ago I got some chiggers (I live in the woods, can’t avoid them at least 2 or 3 times a year) and after one night they were dead!

Guess that is nearly as extreme a treatment as yours.

[ErnBatavia]

[Grammy]

LOL

[knuthom]

I hate chiggers, but mites are even worse. They spread rapidly. My whole family got them one year. We were staying in a cabin in Custer State Park, in South Dakota.

They spread through the family quickly. Within 24 hour I had 300 bites myself. It was a nightmare. We had to coat the whole family from head to toe with a cream that killed the mites. Also wash everything - all clothing, bedding, etc., in hot water.

[Mercat]

OK, that was really funny, maybe my nomination for funniest post of the day.

[Mercat]

Are you sure that they weren’t lice or bedbugs?

[null and void]

Please. That’s chigroes.

[null and void]

Clear nail polish works pretty good for chiggers. Paint a couple of layers over the red itchy area.

Of course chiggers like warm moist areas, so you know that you will itch in the places you are least likely to want to scratch in public.

OTOH, one could pick interesting colors of nail polish to ad a festive touch to privates private parties....

[tet68]

I have found the red hot ice pick method works well, gets down to where they live, cooks them in the burrow so to speak.

[Joe 6-pack]

That works pretty well too, unless they’ve girt their loins....

[Dianna]

Yikes.

A cousin of mine got scabies. When she started scratching with a fork, her mom took her to the doctor.

[Maumee]

Your cure for chiggers,mites and all other pests, including Dennis Kucinich is hilarious, best cure so far.

[knuthom]

Are you sure that they weren’t lice or bedbugs?

Yes. I went to the doctor and was examined. He said they were a mite similar to scabies.

[redhead]

"Do you know how long that jingle takes to get out of your head once it gets in there? Thanks a bunch."

Not half as long as, "FEEEEEEEEEED the worrrrrrrlllddd...."

[ErnBatavia]

Just a "reminder bump" to get out the Billy Mays Superduster and take care of that problem....

[ErnBatavia]

A cousin of mine got scabies. When she started scratching with a fork

Thaqt settles it for me...Ohio is a southern state!

[prairie dog]

Sounds akin to the time-tested cure for crabs — Go to the movie theater, buy popcorn and salt it heavily, when the movie begins, start stuffing popcorn down your pants. When the crabs get up to go to the lobby for something to drink, move to a different seat.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

Mite-Americans.

[spotbust1]

Hahaha, I was scrolling down reading posts and thought there was a bug on my screen so I slapped it. You owe me a new screen. :-)