Sarcoptic mange and other ectoparasitic infections in a red fox (<i>Vulpes vulpes</i>) population from central Italy.



Perrucci, S ORCID: 0000-0002-6459-2151, Verin, R ORCID: 0000-0001-9366-5682, Mancianti, F and Poli, A ORCID: 0000-0003-1254-5772
(2016) Sarcoptic mange and other ectoparasitic infections in a red fox (<i>Vulpes vulpes</i>) population from central Italy. Parasite epidemiology and control, 1 (2). pp. 66-71.

[img] Text
Red fox ectoparasites main document - Perrucci et al.pdf - Unspecified

Download (320kB)

Abstract

Fifty red foxes (<i>Vulpes vulpes</i>) from the district of Pisa (central Italy) were examined for ectoparasites. Sarcoptic mange was diagnosed on the presence of clearly visible skin lesions with confirmatory demonstration of <i>Sarcoptes scabiei</i> at parasitological and histopathological analysis. Ticks and fleas were collected directly from the carcases during <i>post mortem</i> examination, fixed and identified by morphological examination. For the detection of ear <i>Malassezia</i> and mite infections, cytological and parasitological examinations of ear wax samples were performed. All data were statistically analysed using a χ2 test with the Yates correction. An overall prevalence of 84% for ectoparasitic infections was found in examined subjects. In regard to isolated ectoparasites, 38%, 8%, 82%, 6% and 8% of foxes resulted positive for <i>S. scabiei</i>, <i>Otodectes cynotis</i>, <i>Malassezia</i> spp., fleas (<i>Archaeopsylla erinacei</i>, <i>Pulex irritans</i>, <i>Ctenocephalides canis</i>) and ticks (<i>Ixodes ricinus</i> and <i>Rhipicephalus sanguineus</i>), respectively. <i>Malassezia</i> ear infection was significantly more prevalent in animals older than 1 year (P < 0.01). Prevalence (38%), severity of lesions and poor body conditions observed in most <i>Sarcoptes-</i>infected animals indicate that sarcoptic mange should be considered the most important ectoparasitic infection of red foxes in the examined area.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Sarcoptic mange and other ectoparasitic infections in a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population from central Italy journaltitle: Parasite Epidemiology and Control articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.parepi.2016.03.007 content_type: article copyright: © 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of World Federation of Parasitologists.
Uncontrolled Keywords: Central Italy, Ectoparasites, Prevalence, Red fox (Vulpes vulpes), Sarcoptic mange
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 21 Apr 2016 09:39
Last Modified: 17 Dec 2022 02:28
DOI: 10.1016/j.parepi.2016.03.007
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3000431