Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697636526164.pdf (Australia)
Submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Sleep Health Awareness Dear Honourable Members The object of this submission is to outline a little known, but very distressing cause of inadequate and disturbed sleep that has very little medical recognition.

Its sufferers soon discover that very few medical practitioners are even aware of the condition, let alone able to offer some relief.

I have just retired from many years as a school teacher, my husband has just retired from a managerial position.
8 months ago we removed straw from our backyard chicken pen that we discovered was infested with chicken mites.

We did not realise the danger to ourselves but within two nights we were feeling pinpricks all over our bodies as we tried to sleep at night.

Our sleep became more and more frequently disturbed by pinpricks, strong sharp bites and intense itchiness.

We began to postpone going to bed as the worst biting would begin just as we drifted off to sleep.
We often awoke during the night and showered to try and relieve the symptoms.

Sleep was broken and inadequate.

The bites occurred during the day as well so catch up naps were broken and ineffective.

Our doctor was sympathetic as she had seen the large red visible bites that the mites were causing but she was unable to identify the cause of our symptoms.

It was simply outside of her experience.

We believe we have been infested by the Red Chicken Mite, Dermanyssus gallinae.
It has previously been believed that chicken mites cannot live off human blood but recent literature and studies reveal an increasing awareness of the ability of these mites to switch hosts.

See attached document.

Our experience with this distressing problem is very detailed but for the sake of this enquiry I will only briefly outline our efforts to solve our problem.

We have not been able to catch a specimen.

Indeed, the Dermanyssus gallinae is extremely small, and transparent when not full of blood.
They are able to fit inside the human hair follicle and are therefore unable to be removed by the use of essential oils, scabies treatments and off-the-label treatments using pesticides on the human body.

We had our home professionally pest-controlled twice to no avail.

We adopted rigorous protocols such as vacuuming and washing our floors twice daily, laundering clothes in very hot water, washing bedding daily etc.
The scope of this enquiry does not allow me to detail our efforts or the thousands of dollars we have spent.

Suffice to say, this problem has become a permanent part of our lives.

Eight months later my husband symptoms have improved and I take tablets to help me sleep, but we are pinpricked by day and woken at night by strong bites.
Our life has been completely over turned, we are both fighting depression and socially isolated from family and friends as we do not want to risk passing on these mites, if indeed they are contagious.

We hope that this brief submission will help in raising awareness of this very distressing problem.

Thank you for considering our submission.


Inquiry into Sleep Health Awareness in AustraliaSubmission 34 Recommendations 1) The possibility of skin parasitosis as a reason for sleeplessness and biting sensations needs to raised in the medical community and become part of medical training.

Fortunately permanent infestation by the red fowl mites is rare, but this means that doctors and even experienced dermatologists are unaware of it and even label sufferers as delusional.
Doctors and other ‘at the coal face’ workers need to be aware of human infestation by bird/chicken mites so that evidence and occurrence can be documented.

I believe there are many other sufferers in Australia, and a more complete picture is necessary to begin to help sufferers.

If I knew who to approach I would email every specialist to have awareness of this problem raised!

2) Australia needs to do more research in the area of chicken mites.
I believe that Australia lags behind in research and development this area.

The Dermanyssus gallinae mite is a major source of economic loss to the commercial chicken industry worldwide.

It is not unknown for workers to be infested with the mites.

Various methods to control the mites have been considered such as kairomones (hormones) to attract mites to traps.
Australia could add to the field of knowledge or modify existing research and aim it at learning how to destroy the mites within a home environment.

Australia would benefit from researching further into ways to control this pest as well as establishing facts about the infestation of humans.

3) Education of backyard poultry farmers is necessary.

Obviously the vast majority of poultry keepers encounter mites in their chickens but do not become infested.
(It is suspected that there is a link in certain immune deficiencies and susceptibility to persistent infestation by mites.

This could explain why most people do not suffer a long-term infestation, maybe just a few bites.)

Any poultry keeper WHO DOEs become long-term infested will sufferer severe sleep loss, devastating financial cost, social isolation and increasing strain their mental health.

We wish that we had been aware.


Education of everyday people who intend to, or do keep chickens would save much distress.

This will become more urgent as the trend towards keeping backyard chickens increases.

4) More research is needed into how to treat Dermanyssus gallinae infestation of homes and humans.

The mites are developing resistance to pyrethrums and pest control in the home.
In regards to treating an infestation on humans, there appears to be no effective treatment of Red Fowl Mite infestation.

Scabies treatments do not work.

Much more research is desperately needed into this problem.

Currently, people infested by this pest feel very alone and without hope.

They have difficulty finding sympathetic medical practitioners, and there is no medical cure or relief.

Many Thanks Kerry Rae Young Inquiry into Sleep Health Awareness in AustraliaSubmission 34