A case of scabies was yesterday detected at the Żejtun home for the elderly.

The elderly patient is being treated and has been placed under 24-hour isolation, after which the disease will no longer be contagious, the Health Department said.

“There is no cause for alarm,” Health Promotion and Disease Prevention director Charmaine Gauci said.

“All the necessary measures are being taken by the directorate to prevent the disease from spreading,” she added.

Scabies is a contagious skin condition caused by tiny mites called Sarcoptes scabiei.

These mites burrow into the skin, then breed and lay their eggs, causing a rash and intense itchiness.

Sufferers of scabies rarely know they have the condition until a number of weeks after initial infection. The mite is transmitted from one person to the other through close contact and anyone can get infected.

All those who have been in close contact with the infected person, including relatives, residents and care workers, are receiving preventive treatment in the form of a cream which is applied to the whole body from the neck down.

Last October, a scabies outbreak saw a total of 71 elderly people and school children diagnosed. The disease broke out in the old people’s home in Sa Maison.

There are an average of only two reported cases of scabies every year.