Posted by Librarian on 4/2/2002, 4:14 pm

TULSA WORLD January 25, 1995 By: Bill Swindell, World Staff Writer TAHLEQUAH - Although rumors have run rampant, a public health official and a doctor said they have no evidence of a parasitic mite that has supposedly infected four families. Marvin Apple, administrator for the Cherokee County Health Office, said that no one has contacted him concerning the allegations outlined in a letter that has been mailed to reporters in northeast Oklahoma. "I don't have much," said Apple, who added his only inquiries on the subject have been from reporters. "I haven't seen any people personally on this. I haven't come up with anything." The letter describes a Tahlequah woman who was said to have broken out in a rash around Thanksgiving and was supposedly told by a doctor that she had pigeon mites. The mites are rumored to burrow into hair follicles and lay eggs. The letter claims the parasite infected her husband, a Muskogee family and two Fort Gibson families. The letter says that no one could cure the families. Apple said he was concerned that the letter could spread fear, although there is no official report of the infection. Typically, a lab or a doctor treating such a case would immediately inform his office, Apple said. "I don't know if these folks have ever gone to a doctor," Apple said. Alan Kocan, a parasitologist at Oklahoma State University, said a television reporter brought him two insect samples from a man who claimed to suffer from the parasites. Kocan said he found a mosquito-like insect known as a black fly. It is a pest that is commonly found in the eastern part of the state, near running water. It is not harmful, Kocan said. " In the country, they are there in very large numbers." said Kocan, who added that this winter's mild weather may have brought more of the insects out. "All you can see is a black dot," Kocan said of the black fly, also known as a buffalo gnat.