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Transmission
- Close contact
- Adults and larvae can be transferred from one skin surface to another
Pathogenesis
- Erythema with papule formation
- Scale and crust formation
- Alopecia
- Intense pruritus for 1 week
- Self-inflicted trauma
- Scab formation
- Wrinkling and thickening of skin
- Hypersensitivity may develop
- Rash develops
Sarcoptes scabiei
- Causes scabies
- Strains of S. scabiei can be passed between different animals and cause clinical signs although the infection is likely to resolve spontaneously and be unlikely to establish
Diagnosis
- Skin scraping until capillary blood appears
- Adults, eggs, immature mites and faecal pellets can be seen microscopically
- Place material on a microscope slide
- Add 10% KOH
- Warm slide over bunsen flame
Treatment
- Acaricide
- For more information on acaricides click here
- Treat both infected and in-contact animals
- Older products have to be given in repeat treatments
- Avermectins are effective in farm animals
- Selamectin is available as a good spot-on for dogs
- Caused by Sarcoptes scabiei
- Highly contagious
- Mainly in pigs, dogs, also horses, cattle, sheep, goats and cats
- Intense pruritus due hypersensitivity to mites borrowing through stratum corneum
- Usually starts with external pinnae -> head -> neck -> generalised
- Grossly:
- Erythematous macules, papules, crusts
- If chronic -> lichenified, hairless
- Microscopically:
- Hyperplastic, spongiotic, superficial perivascular dermatitis
- Crusting, eosinophil infiltration
- Mites are not commonly seen, but eggs and feces may be found in stratumn corneum