page_title: Mites of domestic animals
section_title: Transmission of pathogens
hierarchical_section_title: Mites of domestic animals / Diseases / Transmission of pathogens
caption_attribution_description: English: A parasitic mite of domestic animals.
context_page_description: Mites that infest and parasitize domestic animals cause disease and loss of production. Mites are small invertebrates, most of which are free living but some are parasitic. Mites are similar to ticks and both comprise the order Acari in the phylum Arthropoda. Mites are highly varied and their classification is complex; a simple grouping is used in this introductory article. Vernacular terms to describe diseases caused by mites include scab, mange, and scabies. Mites and ticks have substantially different biology from, and are classed separately from, insects. Mites of domestic animals cause important types of skin disease, and some mites infest other organs. Diagnosis of mite infestations can be difficult because of the small size of most mites, but understanding how mites are adapted to feed within the structure of the skin is useful.
context_section_description: Compared to ticks and insects of domestic animals, the parasitic mites are of limited importance as transmitters (vectors) of pathogenic organisms to domestic animals. Some mites are the intermediate host of parasitic worms, but not defined as vectors because they do not parasitize a host. For example, free-living mites of the family Oribatidae ingest the eggs of Moniezia expansa tapeworm of sheep; the sheep then ingest the mites whilst grazing.  As another example, free-living hay mites are a suspected reservoir for scrapie, a prion disease of sheep. 
  Dermanyssus gallinae has been shown to transmit the virus causing St Louis encephalitis virus between chickens. (the main transmitters of this virus to humans are Culex mosquitoes). Various species of trombiculid mite transmit the bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi, the causative agent of scrub-typhus, a notorious disease of humans in South East Asia. Leptotrombidium deliniense is the most important of several species of mite transmitting this bacterium.
caption: Cheyletiella parasitivorax adult cat-fur mite
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