Abstract
Sarcoptic mange represents the most severe disease for wild Caprinae individuals and populations in Europe, raising concerns for both conservation and management of these ungulates. To date, this disease has been investigated in different wild caprine species and under many different perspectives including diagnostics, epidemiology, impact on the host populations, and genetics of both hosts and parasite, with the aim to disentangle the host–Sarcoptes scabiei relationship. Notwithstanding, uncertainty remains and basic questions still need an answer. Among these are the effect of immune responses on mange severity at an individual level, the main drivers in host–parasite interactions for different clinical outcomes, and the role of the immune response in determining the shift from epidemic to endemic cycle. A deeper approach to the pathology of this disease seems therefore advisable, all the more reason considering that immune response to S. scabiei in wild Caprinae, generally classified as a hypersensitivity, remains poorly understood. In this paper, we reviewed the pathological features associated to sarcoptic mange in wildlife, exploring different kinds of hypersensitivity and outcomes, with the objective of highlighting the major drivers in the different responses to this disease at an individual level and proposing some key topics for future research, with a particular attention to Alps-dwelling wild caprines.
Highlights
Sarcoptic mange due to the burrowing mite Sarcoptes scabiei is reported worldwide in domestic and wild mammals, in the latter often representing a threat to conservation due to evident effects on population dynamics
Which dynamics are involved in the shift from epidemic to endemic cycle of sarcoptic mange in wildlife populations? How do factors such as coinfections, health condition, and genetic background influence mange infestation in wildlife? How can mortality due to mange be properly assessed and differentiated from other causes of death? Is sarcoptic mange a threat for biodiversity conservation? Which species or populations should be considered for intervention?
In this paper, we have explored the pathology of sarcoptic mange in wildlife, with the objective of highlighting the major drivers in the range of host responses to the disease and proposing some key issues for future research at both an individual and a population level, with a particular attention to Alps-dwelling wild Caprinae
Summary
Sarcoptic mange (or scabies) due to the burrowing mite Sarcoptes scabiei is reported worldwide in domestic and wild mammals, in the latter often representing a threat to conservation due to evident effects on population dynamics. Some varieties of this mite have been described as being able to infect a specific range of zoologically related hosts. Rupicapra), a scabies sensitive caprine (Fam. Caprinae) on which this paper is mainly focused, are referred to as S. scabiei var. Caprinae) on which this paper is mainly focused, are referred to as S. scabiei var. They are experimentally and/or naturally cross-transmissible to the Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) and the
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