An investigation concerning sarcoptic mange in pigs
Buhlmann, V.
Schweizer Archiv für Tierheilkunde 122(5): 253-269
1980
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-7281 PMID: 7403836 Document Number: 155982
Over a period of almost 10 months, every pig dissected in the Institute of Animal Pathology in Bern, Switzerland, was examined for Sarcoptes scabiei (L.) (suis Gerl.), and the cerumen was examined for colour, quantity and consistency; skin scrapes were used to test the ear-shell, the beginning and end of the external ear passage, behind the ears, the tarsal and carpal bends on both sides of the body, and the middle of the back. The level of infestation was the same in both Swedish and conventional rearing systems, and even 4 animals from SPF [Specific Pathogen Free] systems were affected. Of the animals affected in all rearing systems, two-thirds were only slightly affected. All those in the second age-group (12 - 32 weeks old) had mites in their ears, while almost 90% of the younger animals were affected in the ears. The legs were also frequently affected, but the back and behind the ears were less so. A correlation coefficient calculated from macroscopic inspection of the skin (the criteria being the colour, skin consistency, hairiness, dirt and lesions) was closely associated with a coefficient of parasitism. In a microscopic evaluation, hyperkeratosis, epithelial ulceration and neutrophil infiltration showed no significant differences between infested and uninfested animals. In the ears, the most frequently affected part was the beginning of the external passage, but the deeper parts contained the greatest numbers of mites. Typical of latent mite carriers in the deep parts of the ears was a medium brown cerumen with fine whitish spots.