Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Zoology, Mirpur University of Science & Technology (MUST), Mirpur Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan
  • 2 Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies (IEU), University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zürich, Switzerland. sameralasaad@hotmail.com
  • 3 Snow Leopard Foundation, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • 4 Department of Animal Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • 5 Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Leonardo da Vinci 44, I-10095, Grugliasco, Italy
Parasit Vectors, 2016 07 19;9(1):402.
PMID: 27435176 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-016-1685-0

Abstract

Although neglected, the mite Sarcoptes scabiei is an unpredictable emerging parasite, threatening human and animal health globally. In this paper we report the first fatal outbreak of sarcoptic mange in the endangered Himalayan lynx (Lynx lynx isabellinus) from Pakistan. A 10-year-old male Himalayan lynx was found in a miserable condition with severe crusted lesions in Chitral District, and immediately died. Post-mortem examination determined high S. scabiei density (1309 mites/cm(2) skin). It is most probably a genuine emergence, resulting from a new incidence due to the host-taxon derived or prey-to-predator cross-infestation hypotheses, and less probable to be apparent emergence resulting from increased infection in the Himalayan lynx population. This is an alarming situation for the conservation of this already threatened population, which demands surveillance for early detection and eventually rescue and treatment of the affected Himalayan lynx.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.