The threatening but unpredictable Sarcoptes scabiei: first deadly outbreak in the Himalayan lynx, Lynx lynx isabellinus, from Pakistan

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...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Hammed, Khalid, Alasaad, Samer, Ud Din, Jaffar, Nawaz, Muhammad Ali, Rossi, Luca
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/135561
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/135561
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Sarcoptes scabiei
Lynx lynx isabellinus
Human-lynx conflict
Chitral District
Pakistan,
Neglected parasite
Emerging diseases
Descripción
Sumario: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/cm2 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