Cheyletiella
From IDWiki
Background
- Genus of mite
Epidemiology
- Live on dogs, cats, and rabbits, but can incidentally infect humans
- On animals, usually on the backs and can cause dandruff-like scales ("walking dermatitis", "walking dandruff", or dorsal seborrhea sicca)
- Human are an incidental host
- Life cycle completed within 21 days on one host
- Adult females can survive off of hose for up to 10 days
- Eggs can be shed with animal's hair, creating an environmental reservoir for reinfestation
Clinical Manifestations
- Can be asymptomatic
- Source animal may be asymptomatic
- Causes cheyletiellosis, or Cheylatiella dermatitis
- Multiple erythematous pruritic papules on arms, trunk, and buttocks
- May have area of central necrosis
- May develop papulovesicles, urticarial weals, vesicobullous eruptions, or excoriated erosions
- Distribution is essentially the areas of the body that most commonly contact the pet
- Presents similar to scabies, but recurs despite treatment
Diagnosis
- Diagnosis made based on diagnosis of pet (dorsal seborrhea sicca) using skin scrapings or acetate tape impressions that demonstrated mites or eggs
- Mites are not usually seen on human hosts (they "bite and run" back to their animal host)
Management
- Mainstay of treatment is to treat the pet, since the human is an incidental host
- Treatments include mite-icidal shampoos, such as ivermectin, phoxim, and moxidectin
- May need multiple treatments
- Lesions in pet owner typically resolve within 3 weeks
