The Year of the Mite

Year of the mite is an amazing, and scientifically backed story. The new 'bed bug' is here--the 21st century plague, the parasitic blood-feeding mite.As a family who has gone through a mite infestation for over a year, we have seen it all. Jane Ishka has captured our anguish perfectly in the book, detailing entirely what happened to her and her family during a mite infestation. The traumatic reality ( which entomologists need to catch up on and for some reason haven't) of a mite infestation is of true devastation:Thousands of dollars can be spent, insurance doesn't recognize it as a catastrophe, real estate is lost and drops in value, skin can be damaged, and psychological and physical trauma/scarring result. Clothing and possessions are lost. Normal, rational people even resort to dangerous internal remedies to keep mites at bay because their doctors and entomologists have failed them. Victims must isolate themselves as mites easily and quickly spread. Relationships are deeply affected, and families torn apart by something that has no official 'treatment' and as poultry farmers can attest, can only be 'managed.'As someone who has lost everything to a mite infestation, the danger lies in everything all around us now: from wild birds nesting on houses, to pet birds, and even rats. There is not enough literature warning of the very dangerous reality of ectoparasites. But this book does an amazing job of explaining that, and showing readers every aspect to the problem, including that there is little to no psychological councel for victims of mite infestations or help for affected individuals and it can literally happen to anyone. This is an extremely dangerous public health issue.

This book seemed to be as much about dealing with a mite infestation as it was about the unraveling of an intimate relationship due to being 'disbelieved' by someone you love. I personally, having no experience with mites, was more interested in the unraveling of the relationship caused by an inability to see a a partner's invisible source of pain. The Psychologist in the book seemed to be driven by her training to trust the available data, causing her to side with the member of the couple who focused only on what she could read, see, hear, smell and touch. It reminded me of how easy it is to discount information that is not verified by facts and figures as 'irrational' and therefore, 'crazy'. Whereas, by the story's end we find out that the mite infestation was real. However it could not be immediately verified according to the technology and the facts that were known about bird mites at the time. The main character, (the author) however, was able to trust her experience and to pursue the matter until decent answers were found. I found it sad that the couple never came back together, even after all of the facts had unfolded. Therefore, as a story about people, the book lacked a satisfying conclusion. However, as a scientific mystery and a means to educate and support those going through the agony of a mite infestation, the book was a complete success. Hopefully, it might save some relationships among those with mite infestations, if read in time.

Good to know that someone took the time to write a book about this awful problem. I am actually considering writing a screen play of my 11 year epic odyssey with these damn mites. I identified with everything in this book and I am now on the author's website looking for the final nail in the coffin that will help get rid of these awful mites. The only reason I gave this book four stars is that it was heavy on story and very short on specific solutions. However, I did receive some very good tips and validation on some things I'm doing, but it would have been nice if the author had been more specific on what she did, when, how much, how often, how long. For instance, the author advises using essentials oils often and different ways, but she doesn't say how much and which ones and how often..? Hopefully the website will answer these questions. I have gotten rid of my mites, which were identified as Cheyletiella mites by an expert. I found them crawling out of my laptop computer where my cats used to sit. After my first 4 years with the problem and much heart ache and thousands of wasted dollars...I was told by a pet dermatologist to put Revolution (Selemectin which is Ivermectin), on the cats every two weeks. I did that and within 2-3 months I had my life back for 4-5 years, no mites. However they still existed in the environment where the cats went, on the couch or cat bedding and I had to keep putting this stuff on the cats indefinitely which bothered me even though the pet dermo said it was safe. I moved out of the house where the cats were last year to my own place and apparently, the mites wanted to come with me.. I became the new host of choice and have had this problem since. But I'm very close to getting rid of them again due to advice I got from a Dermatologist along with advice in this book. That advice is to bomb with RAID Fogger that contains Permethrin. People have tried to fight these things with Permethrin before, but they need to do a multi-pronged approach. The fogging needs to happen weekly and you might have to do it for multiple months. And also fog your car (from within a garage with the windows open). You can't use the fogger in a small space. And you need make sure you follow the protocols in this book - especially going into a chlorinated pool or hot tub every day. You might not need the treatment of the environment by a professional (which I found never worked), if you keep Raid bombing. I also have taken to sleeping on just my vinyl covered mattress with my pillows in plastic bags that get wiped down or replaced every few days and I will use either a beach towel or a plastic sheet as a blanket. Not fun, but I've had incredible progress. No matter what I did with my sheets, I couldn't get rid of the infestation from the sheets and blankets. So removing them all together has made a huge difference. I'm hoping to find something in this website or from talking to the author that will help put the nail in the coffin of these mites. Otherwise, I'm going to throw in the towel and get a cat and put Revolution on it and go back to a normal life.. Even though the mites would still be around. Thank you for your wonderful book and for helping everyone. As soon as I'm over these things, I'm going to join you in the effort to help as many as possible and bring awareness to this awful problem.

In the midst of a crazy bird mite invasion, I tried everything I was told to do by people around me - pest control, cleaning with bleach and dettol, washing on hot water with bleach... People said they would die without a bird host for 3 weeks. Maybe some did, but for others - I became the host! I realized they were living on/in my skin when I still had the crawling even sleeping a weekend away from my apartment. Jane's book and website were the only thing that gave me information, hope, and inspiration to MOVE, throw out almost everything, and start a cleaning regimen that I hope will get rid of these things for good. She writes well and I can empathize with all of the feelings that she expresses! So thankful for this book.

I loved this, I'm a parasitologist and was horrified by the author's descriptions of her infestation. It's interesting, well written and engaging. And I'm definitely getting a copy for my chicken keeping friend.

Racconto straordinario di esperieze vissute. Problema sconosciuto a molti e sul quale tutti dovrebbero informarsi. Altamente raccomandato.

Too much personal info, a detailed version of how to get rid of mites at the end would helpa lot