A piggery near a home is a source of jiggers

Oct 03, 2008

Jiggers or red bugs are eight-legged mites, about the size of a pencil point and belong in the arachnid group of animals. For them to grow, they must have a blood meal.

Jiggers or red bugs are eight-legged mites, about the size of a pencil point and belong in the arachnid group of animals. For them to grow, they must have a blood meal.

They will attach themselves to you and eventually burrow under the skin where they make a cocoon. On maturity, they lay eggs in the cocoon which eventually bursts to bring forth other mites.

Control measure
Keep the areas that you spend your time in trimmed and free from dust. Keep the piggery a distance from the homestead and make sure the piggery is kept clean.

Apply insect repellent around ankles and armpits when you go into dusty areas. Spray dusty areas with permethrin to keep jiggers to a minimum. For jiggers that have already penetrated the skin, use a safety pin to extract them and apply spirit to the wound.

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