Epizootiology of sarcoptic mange in a population of cantabrian chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica parava) in Northwestern Spain

doi:10.1016/S0304-4017(97)00061-7

Veterinary Parasitology

Volume 73, Issues 1–2, 15 December 1997, Pages 163-171

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4017(97)00061-7 Get rights and content

Abstract

In May of 1993, an epizootic of sarcoptic mange (Sarcoptes scabiei) was detected in the chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica parva) population of the Cantabrian Mountains in northwestern Spain. The epizootic initially spread across an area inhabited by some 1600 chamois. Mortality was lower than reported for other populations of ungulates. The maximum number of animals were affected from February to May. Four red deer (Cervus elaphus) and a roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), were diagnosed with sarcoptic mange from the same area in 1995. In these chamois mange was not correlated with host age or sex. The health and physiological status of this chamois population were not predisposing factors in the appearance of the mange epizootic. The clinical, epidemiological, serological, pathological and parasitological findings of this epizootic from May 1993 to June 1995 are described in this report.

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The mite Sarcoptes scabiei affects numerous mammal species causing the sarcoptic mange, a widespread disease with relevance for wildlife conservation, welfare, and management. The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) could become infested by direct and indirect routes leading to external skin lesions potentially recognizable by devices such as camera traps (CTs). In the present study, 86 randomly placed CTs were used to investigate the apparent prevalence and severity of S. scabiei in a red fox population from northern Spain. Their potential environmental and population-related drivers were also assessed. A total of 341 independent encounters were examined to visually identify mange-compatible lesions. The apparent prevalence was 19.16% (confidence interval (CI) 95%: 15.08–23.80) of which 82.81% (CI95%: 71.33–91.10) were severe. Our results revealed that habitat attributes such as lower altitudes, higher coverage of water-linked habitats and woodland predominance, were significant predictors of the apparent risk of mange. The models also suggested that the apparent prevalence of mange was associated with poor body condition and elevated frequencies of spatial coincidence among fox encounters, which facilitates indirect transmission. Interestingly, we did not observe mange-compatible lesions in other sympatric wild species (>15,000 encounters examined). This could be explained by the mite's host specificity and the low probability that these other potential hosts use sites where transmission among foxes usually occurs, such as dens. This study illustrates how camera trapping can be used as an interesting tool for the surveillance of wildlife diseases, thus overcoming the logistic constraints derived from direct sampling and allowing the early detection and better management of pathogens in the riskiest areas.
Do apex predators need to regulate prey populations to be a right conservation target?
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Some authors consider that apex predators that cannot regulate prey populations are not a complete conservation target. We argue that this image originates in northern latitudes where cultural models of wildness have developed further due to contingent historical and social reasons. In southern European ecosystems apex predators usually cannot regulate prey populations, acting as scavengers or vegetarian. As a consequence, prey are often regulated by bottom-up mechanisms, such as density-dependent disease or food availability. This should not be seen as a downgrading of predator functionality in ecosystems, but just as another type of ecosystem organization. Actually, the species that we now call apex predators were part of much richer predator communities in the Pleistocene, where they behaved as mesopredators (wolf) or already had vegetarian diets (southern brown bear). Species functionality shows spatiotemporal heterogeneity, and this variability needs to be taken into account and incorporated to conservation plans on a case by case basis, to improve their success rates and human-wildlife coexistence.
First description of sarcoptic mange in an Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis)
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Citation Excerpt :
Mild infection in animals is characterized by pruritic papules, erythema, scales and alopecia, whereas the main sign in chronic cases is skin thickening due to hyperkeratosis and/or exudative crusts formation (Rahman et al., 2010). In Spain, sarcoptic mange has been reported in several game species including the Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica) (León-Vizcaíno et al., 1999), Southern chamois (Rupricapra pyrenaica parva) (Fernández-Morán et al., 1997), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) (Oleaga et al., 2008a), red deer (Cervus elaphus) (Oleaga et al., 2008b), wild boar (Sus scrofa) (Haas et al., 2018), red fox (Vulpes vulpes) (Gortázar et al., 1998), European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) (Millán, 2010), and the introduced European mouflon (Ovis aries musimon), fallow deer (Cervus dama) and Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia) (Iacopelli et al., 2020; Moroni et al., 2021). In naïve wildlife populations, infection with S. scabiei usually results into high morbidity and mortality (Rossi et al., 2019).
The Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis) is a popular small game species in the Iberian Peninsula, and it has never been reported to be affected by sarcoptic mange. An adult female Iberian hare with overt skin lesions on forelimbs and ventral thorax, suggestive of sarcoptic mange, was culled in Quart de les Valls municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain, in 2019. Skin scrapings were digested in 10% KOH solutions to confirm the presence of mites. Ten Sarcoptes microsatellite markers were used to characterize the genetic structure of mites obtained from the hare, and from sympatric and allopatric wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). A total of 56 alleles were counted across the 10 microsatellite loci. Six private alleles were found at four loci (Sarms 33, 38, 41, 45). The multivariate analysis characterized three main clusters, corresponding to mites collected on foxes originating from Catalonia, foxes from Valencia and the hare plus wild rabbits. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of sarcoptic mange in the Iberian hare. The origin was molecularly traced back to contacts with endemically infected wild rabbits. We encourage further investigations on cross-transmissibility of S. scabiei between wild rabbits and the diverse representatives of Lepus spp.
Spatio-temporal patterns of sarcoptic mange in red deer and Iberian ibex in a multi-host natural park
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Citation Excerpt :
The most interesting information provided by this work is the characterization of the long term spatial and temporal patterns of sarcoptic mange infestation in a multi-host system. While severe sarcoptic mange epizootics are frequently reported in wild Bovidae throughout Europe (Fernández-Morán et al., 1997; León-Vizcaíno et al., 1999; González-Candela et al., 2004), cases in Cervidae are scarcely described (Oleaga et al., 2008b). In this study, the number of cases and their spatial distribution in red deer decreased progressively along the period of study, whereas an opposite trend was observed in Iberian ibex.
The reliance on multiple hosts to survive is what makes the management and control of multi-host infectious agents challenging. Sarcoptes scabiei causes sarcoptic mange in a wide range of mammal species with ungulates being an important host. Little is known about the role different ungulates play in sustaining endemic transmission of the disease and no study has yet to describe the long-term multi-host sarcoptic infestation dynamics in free-ranging wildlife. Here, we explore 24 years of sarcoptic mange infestation data for two Mediterranean ungulate species, red deer and Iberian ibex, living in the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park of southern Spain. The temporal analysis showed a clear seasonal pattern of infestation in both ungulates with a peak in early spring and a decline throughout the summer. The spatial analysis, however, showed that caprinae rather than cervidae is the most competent host for sarcoptic mange spreading and persistence. Considering that few studies have described the spatio-temporal pattern of mange outbreaks for long periods of time, the information reported in this work aims to improve our understanding of sarcoptic mange epizootic in wild ruminant populations.
The complete mitochondrial genome of Sarcoptes scabiei var. nyctereutis from the Japanese raccoon dog: Prediction and detection of two transfer RNAs (tRNA-A and tRNA-Y)
2019, Genomics
Sarcoptes scabiei (Acari: Sarcoptidae) causes a common contagious skin disease that affects many mammals. Here, the complete mitochondrial genome of a mite, S. scabiei var. nyctereutis, from Japanese wild raccoon dogs was analyzed. The 13,837 bp circular genome contained 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, and 22 tRNA genes. For the first time, two tRNAs (alanine and tyrosine), that were thought to be absent in scabies mites from other animals, were predicted to have short, non-cloverleaf structures by in silico annotation and detected by RT-PCR, sequencing, and northern analysis. The mitochondrial genome structure of S. scabiei is similar to that of Psoroptes cuniculi and Dermatophagoides farinae. While small and unusual tRNA genes seem to be common among acariform mites, further experimental evidence for their presence is needed. Furthermore, through an analysis of the cox1 gene, we have provided new evidence to confirm the transmission of this mite between different animal hosts.
A review of sarcoptic mange in North American wildlife
2019, International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife
The “itch mite” or “mange mite”, Sarcoptes scabiei, causes scabies in humans and sarcoptic mange in domestic and free-ranging animals. This mite has a wide host range due to its ability to adapt to new hosts and has been spread across the globe presumably through human expansion. While disease caused by S. scabiei has been very well-studied in humans and domestic animals, there are still numerous gaps in our understanding of this pathogen in free-ranging wildlife. The literature on sarcoptic mange in North American wildlife is particularly limited, which may be due to the relatively limited number of clinically-affected species and lack of severe population impacts seen in other continents. This review article provides a summary of the current knowledge of mange in wildlife, with a focus on the most common clinically-affected species in North America including red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), gray wolves (Canis lupus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and American black bears (Ursus americanus).

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Veterinary Parasitology

Abstract

References (18)

Biology, host relations and epidemiology of Sarcoptes scabiei

Annu. Rev. Entomol.

Improved microtechniques for the leptospiral microscopie agglutination test

Appl. Microbiol.

Hemolytic assays: complement fixation and antistreptolysin

Étude de la variabilité de Sarcoptes scabiei avec une revision des sarcoptidae

Acta Zool. Pathol. Antverpiensia

Aspectos ecológicos de la población de cabra montés (Capra pyrenaica) en la Sierra de Cazorla y Segura (Jaén)

Isolation of Brucela melitensis biovar 3 from a chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) in the southern French Alps

J. Wildlife Dis.

Enquête sérologique sur ĺétat sanitaire des grands ongulés du Centre et Sud des alpes fraçaises

Revue Scient. Techn. Office Int. Epizoot.

Estudio experimental de las fases experimentales de la paratuberculosis ovina

Physiological indices in wildlife management

Cited by (98)

Camera traps reveal a high prevalence of sarcoptic mange in red foxes from northern Spain

Do apex predators need to regulate prey populations to be a right conservation target?

First description of sarcoptic mange in an Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis)

Spatio-temporal patterns of sarcoptic mange in red deer and Iberian ibex in a multi-host natural park

The complete mitochondrial genome of Sarcoptes scabiei var. nyctereutis from the Japanese raccoon dog: Prediction and detection of two transfer RNAs (tRNA-A and tRNA-Y)

A review of sarcoptic mange in North American wildlife