Prevalence of Mites in Some Clinically Infected Animals in Behera Province

The current work was undertaken to determine the role of some animal species in transmitting mites to their human contact. A total of 100 hair and skin scrapings were collected from clinically suspected mange like lesions found on different parts of the body of individually owned animals from Abo El Matameer District, Behera Province during the period extended from June 2014 to May 2015. Samples included cattle, buffaloes, sheep and horses (25 samples of each) of different ages and sex. Results revealed that the highest prevalence was observed in sheep (72%) followed by cattle (48%) then buffaloes (36%) and finally horses (28%). Statistical analysis showed non-significant association between the prevalence of mites and sex of investigated animals while there was a significant association between the prevalence of mites and different age groups that older animals were more susceptible to infection than young animals. Microscopic identification clarified that that the overall prevalence of Sarcoptes spp. and Psoroptes spp. was 56.52 and 43.48%, respectively. Finally, it was clear that cattle, buffaloes, sheep and horses could be considered potential reservoirs for scabies.