Acariosis, Animals

Several mites infest animals and cause significant dermatologic diseases. These may be occasional parasites e.g. harvest mites (Trombicula) or obligatory parasites like Sarcoptes and Demodex genera. Mites may be free-living on the surface of the skin (Cheyletiella, Chorioptes ), superficial burrowers (Sarcoptes ), or may penetrate more deeply (Demodex). The parasitic mites of the families Sarcoptidae and Psoroptidae, known as “mange mites ”, generally give rise to well defined dermatoses. The lesions are the result of mechanical damage to the skin and probably also of hypersensitivity reactions to toxic secretions (Pathology/Fig. 30 ).

Sarcoptes scabiei (Sarcoptic mange) occurs commonly in pigs, dogs and cattle; and more rarely in horses, sheep, goats and cats. The so-called feline scabies is caused by Notoedres cati . The several varieties of Sarcoptes scabiei may represent strains of the same mite which have become more adapted to particular hosts. The mites burrow into the skin. It...