Mites that prompted Highland school closure were 'harmless'
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Highland Council has revealed that the mites that prompted a Highland school to close a week early for summer were actually harmless.
Headteacher Michael Aitchison wrote to parents and carers of the 777-pupil school to tell them the school was not going to reopen until after the summer holiday following an infestation of what were thought to be red mites.
At the time it was unclear whether the "red mites" were blood-sucking ectoparasites that are linked to poultry or red spider mites which feed on plants.
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It turns out that they were neither and they were actually clover mites, which eat plants and do not tend to cause any health-related issues.
A spokesperson for Highland Council said: “We carried out investigations at Charleston Academy and following confirmation from a laboratory we can reassure the public that they were harmless clover mites, which can occur naturally in Highland.
“Numbers have significantly reduced at the school and monitoring is ongoing.
"Highland Council will always prioritise the safety and wellbeing of staff and pupils and therefore a decision to close the school earlier than anticipated was merely a precaution until we had identified the species.”
