Density and distribution of house dust mites found in the bedding and hairs of indoor-reared dogs

Abstract

The density and distribution of house dust mites on a bath towel used as the bedding of an indoor-reared dog and house dust mite species attached to the hairs of indoor-reared dogs were examined to study the importance of indoor-reared dogs for the reproduction and dispersion of house dust mites. The bath towel was divided into 356 sections and the degree of dirtiness of each section was defined by the thickness and coverage of vomit. The effects of the coverage of vomit on mite density per section was significant (ANOVA, p<0.05) and a significant linear relationship was observed between the coverage of vomit and mite density. Based on the relationship, house dust mite density was estimated for each section and the total number of house dust mites on the bath towel was calculated as 4,728 per 0.94 m². A total of 269 house dust mites sampled from the bath towel were identified and Dermatophagoides farinae was dominant (95.5%) whereas D. pteronyssinus comprised only 1.9%. The hairs of 12 indoor-reared dogs were examined and 12 mites were found from 8 dogs. Although the number of mites was small, indoor-reared dogs possibly disperse house dust mites on rooms where they visit and stay.