All it took was a few baby chicks and a carpeted floor, and soon Jane Ishka, a San Francisco Bay Area homesteader, literally felt her skin crawling. She–and her house, her car, and all of her belongings–had been infested by the red poultry mite, Dermanyssus gallinae. Driven from her home and bed by the biting and itching, Jane used her scientific background to figure out what was wrong, and most importantly, how to fix it.
Told as a scientific detective story, “Year of the Mite” begins with a handful of adorable chicks moved temporarily into the family room. Jane’s mother had always warned her not to touch bird’s nests, and soon her arms were blotchy with bites. Borax, mite traps, diatomaceous earth… none of the usual remedies did anything. More research convinced her that, contrary to what was taught in 4-H, bird mites could infest people, and that they were terribly hard to get rid of once established. It took her a year to figure out a combination of treatments that worked, and it is this long and itchy story that she shares with readers, including the stresses on her family life brought about by the ongoing infestation and the drastic steps necessary to cure it.
A great read for fans of science, for aspiring homesteaders, and especially for those who have had their own encounters with nearly invisible infestations.
Is this book available yet?
Not yet–it’s in final copy edits–early February!
It is now!!
Check Amazon for Kindle and print.
Book Launch Party for Year of the Mite, June 9, 2016:
https://www.facebook.com/events/136991326696999/
Author signatures in your books usually mean only that someone was prepared to stand in line at a bookshop for somewhere between a few minutes and a few hours in order for a brief encounter with celebrity; or to pay lots of money for a book to somebody else who was. Either way, it’s merely a symptom of having way too much time and/or money on your hands. The cult of authorship is one of the more irrational manifestations of the whole mad publishing business, and the sooner it is dismantled the better.
how do you get doctors anyone to listen to you..for me that is the worst thing about all this..I lost everything because of a microscopic insect. I am a pest control professional but I was no match for mites
Doctors are deep in denial and their training here in the US is decades behind Australia or even Canada.
I HAVE LOST EVERYTHING and am still suffering because of mistreatment and denial by “doctors” who should not have medical licenses.
how do you get doctors anyone to listen to you..for me that is the worst thing about all this..I lost everything because of a microscopic insect. I am a pest control professional but I was no match for mites. have been infested for over a year now.. finally after several visits to several doctors, ,,there sending me to Stafford ,,the best hospital in California. . well see how smart these smart doctors are. ..I’m hoping to get some closure…and get busy with lawsuits…no one has listened yet…even after positive identification from them living under my skin and on everything I ever owned…still afflicted…
I’m having the same problem, I’m infested with mites, no dr. Will help me I’ve loss all hair I’m bald,I roll mites out my head every day.do you have a lawyer ? Would you hook me up with him? Deloreswest70@yahoo.com
I’m renting from someone now since January 2017. OMG ITS MITES BUT I THINK DUST ARE BIRD NOT SURE BE CAUSE I’M IN THE HOUSE I FEEL THE DROPPING ARE BITINGS I’M OUT SIDE I FEEL THE SAME THING I FEEL I’M GOING CRAZY MY FAMILY THINK I’M GOING CRAZY.. PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME CAN U PLEASE EMAIL ME PLEASE AND THANK YOU
Why this problem is ignored is beyond me. This has been a recent problem to our environment as a whole. I can’t ever remember the population of wildlife being infested with bugs. Now everywhere I look I see animals with some type of mange.
My problem a tenant above that keeps vermin as pets. Even though her own children are bitten by these bugs, she basically tells them to suck it up.
Inspectors and doctors have limited knowledge. It can be very debilitating. This can be “germ warfare”
Hi, I am in South Africa and it is difficult to buy through Amazon. i can not download kindle as it is only available in America
How can I get hold of this book otherwise?
Looking forward to your reply
Kind regards
Robert van Dijk
You can buy the ebook and pdf from store.bitingduckpress.com.
Im just ready to die,ive sufferd almost too years. I read the comments… My heart is tierd
Hello,
Hoping you are finding some help through the success stories and protocols from mite survivors on the Skin Mite Support Group on Facebook. The protocols I used are at the back of the book Year of the Mite. They are also on http://www.yearofthemite.com.
Best wishes,
Jane Ishka
I am suffering from a severe and worsening apparent mite infestation in my home. The bite marks, which are mostly scratch-like, burn and develop rashes in immediate vicinity. They are much worse at night. This has persisted for several months and can be traced as far back as a year from boxes brought home from office and garage storage. My dermatologist prescribed Ivermectin used to treat scabies mites and demodex. Nothing has worked. I have provided samples off my skin to an Entomologist but they were not intact so nothing specific was identified. My wife is completely unaffected. I am in urgent need of help. I read excerpts of the book via internet site. How do I get this professionally assessed? Biopsy of skin where lesions appear?
Please help.
Eric
Hello Eric,
Very sorry to hear of your troubles with mites.
While I am not a medical professional, I am a biologist and was able to resolve my own infestation with the protocols at the end of Year of the Mite. The protocols can also be found at http://www.yearofthemite.com. Other success stories and protocols from other former mite sufferers are available through the Skin Mite Support Group on Facebook.
Unfortunately each of us is on our own when it comes to designing and executing protocols that will eradicate our mites. I wish you the best of luck with yours.
All best wishes,
Jane Ishka
Hello Readers,
In the ten years since I had parasitic mites, the situation for mite sufferers does not seem to have improved in that, by all accounts, physicians are still in denial about the problem (aside from scabies, which is only one of the types of mites affecting humans).
While I am not a medical professional, I am a biologist and did get rid of my own mites with the protocols in the back of the book which are also available at http://www.yearofthemite.com. Others have published success stories and their protocols (see the Facebook group Skin Mites Support Group for more information). It remains true that people with parasitic mites must take charge of resolving the problem for themselves.
Wishing all the best to everyone,
Jane Ishka
Well its official my family my doctors and any one i have officially deemed me dillusional. I have zero help zero support. How to keep going when your alone battling this?? Me and my teo french bulldogs have suffered daily for the last three years . I have nothing left in me no fight. I dont know what else i can do . Im on all the support group sites but honestly im tires , no im beyond tired im exausted. The constant cleaning and washing vacuuming scrubbing . My poor dogs are being eaten alive i cant keep up. This is not fair no one should have to live like this . I just am begging for some help please someone . I cant afford any more anything. My dogs are all i have and i feel iam failing them and myslef. Nevermind all the people weve problably infected over the last three years . I cant do it anymore i just cant . Why wont anyone help us. This is inhumane to let people suffer. If anyone has any kind of a heart they will help us. Please.