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Tag: Sarcoptes scabei

  • Don’t forget Sarcoptes scabei in your differential diagnosis

    I’ve come across a couple of cases of Sarcoptes this winter. Both cases were young dogs with intense pruritus – one on his face and the other around the triceps region.

    Although both owners were rather sceptical, both dogs responded very rapidly to therapy with imidacloprid/moxidectin (Advocate, Bayer).

    In our neck of the woods, I tend to try trial therapies first as we have a high urban fox population, but perform ELISA blood tests for Sarcoptes in dog cases with persistent signs.

    I occasionally do skin scrapes but rarely, if ever, find mites!

    Video of the S. scabiei mite. Author: My Core Competency is Competency at en.wikipedia

  • Sarcoptes ELISA

    Sarcoptes scabei
    Sarcoptes scabei – a parasitic arthropod that burrows into skin and causes scabies. Image by Kalumet. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

    Have you ever had an atopic dog that’s really well managed but suddenly flares, becomes very pruritic and seems to stop responding to therapy? I had one such case just a couple of months ago.

    Skin scrapes did not reveal the presence of any ectoparasites and cytology was pretty unexciting (a bit of bacterial colonisation but otherwise unremarkable).

    However, noticing the pruritus to be primarily around the head, ears and ventral abdomen tipped me off to think about Sarcoptes scabei – particularly as we have a very prolific and confident urban fox population in our practice area.

    A serum sample was duly sent off and – lo and behold – proved positive for Sarcoptes antibodies.

    The client then confessed to missing “a dose” of Advocate but, upon reapplication, management was readily restored.