[2][3] O. bacoti can be found and cause disease on rats and wild rodents most commonly, but also small mammals and humans when other hosts are scarce.

The scarcity of reports, due in part to misdiagnosis and also the mildness of its symptoms, makes the disease seem less common than it is.

[2][1] The tropical rat mite is between 0.75 and 1.44 mm in length and is unsegmented with chelicerae or mandibles which are suited to piercing.

[4][3] They have a sharp caudal apex of the scutum, an oval genital shield, and a cranially positioned anus.

[6][4] The symptoms of this disease are common or at least mistakable for many things that should be checked for as well in differential diagnosis such as prurigo simplex, allergies, mosquito or other insect bites, bacterial folliculitis, dermatitis herpetiformis, scabies, and pediculosis.

[3] A biopsy of the lesions only shows superficial and mid-dermal perivascular infiltrates and occasionally eosinophils.

Generally, an oral antihistamine, a topical corticosteroid, gamma benzene hexachloride, benzyl benzoate, or crotamiton is used to provide relief.

[7] To effectively rid the patient of dermatitis thorough eradication of the mite from pets and their environment is crucial.

Acaricides for the environment might be hydrocyanic acid, chlorophenothane (DDT), chlordane, permethrin, pyriproxyfen, or lindane.

To rid pets of the mite, selamectin is generally used in the form of Revolution, Stronghold or Pfizer.