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.
The Aborigines or Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia who are still seminomadic are known to have a close association with dogs. In this study, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect anti-Sarcoptes scabiei var canis antibodies in this community as a measure of exposure to the mite. Out of 312 Orang Asli tested, 24.7% were positive for polyvalent anti-Sarcoptes antibodies. No significant difference was found between the positive rates in males (26.1%) and females (23.6%). Only 1.9% were positive for IgA and none was positive for IgE anti-Sarcoptes antibodies. Since there were very few patients with clinical manifestation of scabies, there is a possibility that continuous exposure to the dogs mite confers cross-protective immunity in the community against human scabies.
Mites infestation and gastrointestinal parasites including coccidia are common problems reported in pets, petting farms and farmed practices. Sarcoptes sp. and Cheyletiella sp. could be a potential zoonosis from rabbits to human. Detection of mites and coccidia with their zoonotic potential in meat-farmed rabbits from three (3) commercial farms in Selangor were investigated. Tape impression, fur pluck, skin scraping and ear swab tests were used for mites detection and faecal samples was used for coccidia examination by using McMaster's technique and the identification of Eimeria spp. was further analysed by sporulation technique. The overall prevalence of mites and Eimeria spp. (oocysts) in rabbits were 51.85% ± 0.38 (standard deviation; S.D.) and 76.47% ± 0.42 respectively. Sarcoptes scabiei was the most frequent mite found (25.92% ± 0.44), followed by Cheyletiella parasitovorax and Psoroptes cuniculi. Nine Eimeria spp. were identified and the oocysts of E. perforans shows the highest prevalence (64.71% ± 3.97) followed by E. exigua, E. coecicola, E. magna, E. flavescens, E. irresidua, E. intestinalis, E. media and E. stiedai. There was a significant difference (p = 0.013) where large-scale farm has a higher prevalence of coccidia than small scale farms apparently due to the excessive stocking density as coccidia are easily transmitted among rabbits through ingestion of sporulated oocysts. In conclusion, mites and coccidia are commonly present in the commercial rabbit farms, thus control and preventive measures should be executed to reduce the incidence of parasites. The zoonotic mites Sarcoptes scabiei and Cheyletiella parasitovorax detected in this study could be regarded as a public health concern especially when handling the rabbit.