Psoroptic Mange in a Weaner Pig

Abstract

Mange is a contagious skin disease affecting various groups of animals. Psoroptic mange is a severe skin condition of farm animals; it is highly contagious and is responsible for huge economic losses in many farm animals. Infestation with Psoroptes has been reported all over the world in various farm animals, but none has ever been reported in swine. A male weaner large white breed pig of age 3 months weighing 10kg was presented with skin lesions and areas of alopecia during a routine farm visit by the handlers. The alopecia was found around the thorax, abdomen and ear regions with severe pruritus, emaciation, wrinkling and thickening of the skin with heavy crust formation on abdomen and the ears, along with curling of the tongue with attending vocal loss noticed on close  observations. A tentative diagnosis of mange was made with the following differential diagnosis: Allergic dermatitis, Bacterial dermatitis, Fly bite dermatitis, Hypovitaminosis. Further confirmatory diagnosis was done by collection of deep skin scrapping from which Psoroptes mites were demonstrated and a case of psoroptic mange diagnosed. To the best of our knowledge this is the first demonstration of Psoroptic mange in pigs. The affected animal was treated using Ivermectin (1%) and Long acting Oxytetracycline (20%). This case may be the first case in which psoroptic mange was reported in pigs with effective ivermectin control. More work should be done on the prevalence and possible molecular characterization of Psoroptic mites on pigs across the globe to ascertain if there are other strains that can affect pigs.

Key words: Psoroptes mite, Mange, Ivermectin, and Pigs