Scabies: What Park Staff and Visitors Should Know

This page is part of the National Park Service's A–Z health topics series on illnesses that can affect NPS employees, volunteers, commercial use providers and visitors.

In people

The scabies mite, Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis. CDC / Joe Miller / Reed & Carnrick Pharmaceuticals; public domain.

Scabies is a skin condition caused by the human itch mite, Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis. The mites burrow into the top layer of skin and live out their whole life cycle there, including laying eggs. Scabies occurs worldwide and can affect anyone.

• Spread: through prolonged skin-to-skin contact with someone who has scabies — sometimes before that person has symptoms. Household members and sexual partners are at particular risk. Less often, it spreads through shared clothing, towels or bedding.
• Crusted scabies: a severe form, which can occur in people with weakened immune systems, carries far more mites and a greater risk of spread.
• Symptoms: intense itching, especially at night, and a pimple-like rash. In someone who has never had scabies, symptoms can take 4–6 weeks to appear; in someone who has had it before, they can start within 1–4 days.

In animals

Animals don't carry the human itch mite, but they can be infested with other Sarcoptes mites, some of which can cause short-lived infestations in people. Heavily infested animals may lose hair — in patches or almost completely — and develop thickened, crusted skin, a condition called mange. Sarcoptic mange has been documented in at least 148 species of domestic and wild mammals; it can kill and can drive populations down. In Yellowstone National Park, sarcoptic mange was one of the factors in a decline in wolves.

In the environment

Human scabies is most common in hot, tropical climates. On a person, mites can live 1–2 months; off a person, they usually survive no more than 72 hours. Ten minutes of high heat kills them.

Prevention

• Avoid skin-to-skin contact with, and sharing clothing or bedding with, anyone known to have scabies.
• If you've had skin-to-skin contact with, or live with, someone who has scabies, see a health care provider, who may prescribe preventive treatment.

If you think you have scabies

• See a health care provider for treatment. Household members and sexual partners from the previous month should be examined and treated at the same time.
• Put on clean clothes after treatment.
• Machine-wash and dry on hot all bedding, clothing and towels the person used, or dry-clean them. Keep anything that can't be washed or dry-cleaned away from all human contact for at least 72 hours.
• Vacuum furniture and carpets.
• Don't use insecticide sprays or fumigants.
• Return to work or school as your doctor or health department advises; without other guidance, people can generally go back the day after treatment.
• Ask a veterinarian about treating mange in domestic animals.
• Report sick or dead wildlife to the park's resource manager and the Wildlife Health Branch right away.

Sources

• National Park Service: "Scabies," from the NPS A–Z Health Topics series.
• Typing errors in the source (the mite's name given as "scabei," and "skin-to-contact") are corrected here. The scabies mite photograph, left out of the first rewrite, was restored on 2026-09-26; the NPS One Health logo is not reproduced.