Psoroptes cuniculi

• Parasite of rabbits

• Common among conventional rabbits

• Transmitted via contact

• Adapted to living in an aural environment

Pathogenesis

• The ears are painful and intensely pruritic

• Affected rabbits shake their heads and scratch their ears

• The inner surfaces of the pinnae are covered with brown, scaly, fetid material, and the skin beneath is raw

• Mites are grossly visible

• Histologically, there is chronic erosive and proliferative eosinophilic dermatitis
  • The mites are non-burrowing and thus are found only in the exudate, not in the tissue

Diagnosis

• Microscopic examination for mites (low magnification)

• Appearance

Control

• Infestations are difficult to eliminate from a colony
  • Ivermectin is usually effective