Tufts veterinary dermatologist Lluis Ferrer, DVM, shares information on Demodex mites, including the recent confirmation of them taking up residence in dogs’ hair follicles. Demodex mites have been detected in the skin of all mammals and are considered part of what is called the cutaneous microbiome. He reminds us that Demodex mites are crawling on our faces all the time. Note the relationship of mites to rosacea in humans.
Source: Tuft’s Your Dog, July 2017.
After treatment with ivermectin or with the new isoxazolines, the mite overgrowth is controlled, but the mites do not completely disappear from the skin of the mammal.
INSIGHTS: Every dog carries Demodex mites. “This was something that was previously suspected,” Dr. Ferrer says, “but uncertain. We have been able to develop a new technique to detect the mites even in small numbers and learn that they are distributed all over the dog’s body, wherever there is hair.” The mites colonize the follicles like nomads, moving from one to the other during the night in their own stealth fashion.