• Health and safety
• skin
• zoonoses
• healthcare workers
• contact dermatitis
• epidemiology
• cancer
• hygiene/occupational hygiene
• time series study
• race and ethnicity issues
• clinical medicine
• biological monitoring
• retrospective exposure assessment

The red mite, Dermanyssus gallinae (Acarina: Mesostigmata), is a temporary blood-sucking ectoparasite of poultry and other avian species, with a worldwide distribution. It can occasionally bite mammals, including humans, and cause dermatitis. Medical textbooks frequently cite itching and cutaneous lesions resulting from red-mite bites as a normal occurrence in subjects working in close conjunction with poultry. In fact, D. gallinae is one of the most common pests and a major cause of economic loss in the poultry industry, with a farm prevalence of up to 90%.1 In the literature, red-mite dermatitis (RMD) is generally regarded as an urban hygiene issue. Not only do red-mite attack data for humans working in infested poultry premises generally go unreported, but the health and economic importance of this human infestation is very much underestimated.2 3 For this reason, in the ambit of a wider survey on dermanyssosis, we investigated the occurrence of dermatitis related to the red mite among farmers working on battery-hen laying farms in Southern Italy (Apulia region). In this region, most poultry farms are small-scale laying-hen units (1000–5000 birds) where various factors (such as inadequate hygiene, lack of awareness on the part of the farmers, poor housing maintenance and inappropriate control measures) ensure high levels of parasite infestation throughout the year.1 In such conditions, the parasite will readily attack the skin of poultry farm workers handling infested birds and/or cages. This category of workers run greater risks given that they tend not to wear any personal protective equipment. From 2007 to 2009, 58 caged poultry farms were visited; one worker from each farm was interviewed to gather information about their knowledge of red-mite and its zoonotic role, the areas of the body involved and the seasonality of the symptoms. Workers from all farms in the survey confirmed that they knew of the red mite and its tendency to bite humans. Out of 58 poultry workers, 11 (18.96%) reported having experienced annoying pruritic skin eruptions at work following episodes of red mites crawling on their skin. Of the 11 infected workers, 2 (18.18%) reported dermatitis on just the arms and hands, with 7 (63.63%) reporting symptoms on the chest and 2 (18.18%) on the legs. The poultry industry is undergoing considerable expansion and red mite attacks pose a great financial threat to the European poultry industry.4 Our observations show that RMD should be considered a serious health problem for personnel working in affected poultry farms. The loss of working days and the demand for higher salary by workers on infested farms, as observed in other countries, confirm the worldwide economic impact of dermanyssosis.1 Since the red mite is also known to be a possible vector for a number of zoonotic agents, bites on human skin should be regarded as an additional concern associated with this parasite.5 6 We therefore wholeheartedly support the inclusion of the red mite as a zoonotic agent in all regulations regarding occupational safety, and RMD as an occupational hazard for individuals working with poultry.