77 



interval would greatly clear the ground of ticks and, in their absence, 

 gastro-enteritis of sheep cannot spread. 



Henry ( ). Otacariasis and the Prophylaxis of Psoroptic Mange. 



— Jl. C&mp. Path. Therapeut., London, xxx, no. 1, March 1917, 

 pp. 84-87. (Abstract from Bull. Soc. Cent. Med. Vet., xcii, p. 41.) 



Psoroptic otacariasis is common in rabbits and goats and has been 

 observed in the gazelle and in the argali or wild sheep of America. 

 The disease is also common in the horse, ass, mule and sheep. The 

 infestation is invariably localised in the deepest part of the auditory 

 meatus, where colonies of mites are always to be found in infected 

 animals. The remedial treatment is to inject gently or run into the 

 ears so that it reaches the bottom of the auditory meatus, a lukewarm 

 watery 2 or 3 per cent, emulsion of cresyl. Under the microscope 

 the mites were found to be killed almost instantaneously by this 

 emulsion, when fresh. This treatment should be renewed two or 

 three times at eight-day intervals, in order to destroy the parasites 

 hatched from eggs that were not killed by the previous treatment. 

 Examination of sheep leads to the conclusion that otacariasis is of 

 common occurrence, though no scab may be visible on their bodies,, 

 and the author refers to the recent discovery by Roubaud and Van 

 Saceghem of otacariasis in sheep in the Belgian Congo [see this 

 Review, Ser. B, v, p. 35]. When psoroptic mange has become estab- 

 lished on the bodies of horses and sheep, it can be transmitted from 

 one animal to another by direct or indirect contact, so that it does 

 not follow that mites can be found in the ears of all the animals affected 

 with psoroptic mange. In the author's opinion, however, otacariasis 

 remains the fundamental form and is the origin of new centres of the 

 disease. This localisation in the ear will often explain relapses in 

 the treatment of mange. In order to eliminate this factor in the spread 

 of the parasite, no animal should be introduced into a flock of suscep- 

 tible individuals ^^^thout previous disinfection of the ears. 



Berton ( — ). The Open-air Treatment of Mange. — J I. Camp. Path. 

 Therapeut., London, xxx, no. 1, March 1917, pp. 91-93. (Abstract 

 from Rev. Gen. de Med. Vet., Toulouse, xxv, no. 291, pp. 531-539, 

 15th November 1916.) 



The author's observations have led him to believe that horses affected 

 with mange might be cured merely by keeping them in the open air, 

 under hygienic conditions, with a plentiful supply of water and good 

 food. An experiment was tried wdth 12 horses on which acari had 

 been identified microvscopically. The animals, which were in extremely 

 poor condition, were turned out in a field traversed by a stream and fed 

 on hay and oats. At the end of 2 months, 10 of them were cured and 

 the other two, which were very old and exhausted when the experiment 

 began, died. By these methods the author succeeded in curing in the 

 space of 2 months 88 per cent, of cases, some of which were of long 

 standing and had been repeatedly treated with drugs. A preliminary 

 treatment consists of clipping and thorough cleansing, after which a 

 parasiticide should be appHed. Oily dressings should be avoided. 

 A 2 to 2| per cent, hot solution of potassium polysulphide has been 

 found to give excellent results. This is used over the entire skin and 



