SCABIES OF CATTLE. 



PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. 



Numerous letters are addressed to the Department of Agriculture 

 making inquiry with regard to scabies of cattle, also known as range 

 itch, cattle itch, and cattle mange; the last is the correct name, the 

 disease being mange, or scabies. This disease has prevailed to a con- 

 siderable extent among the range cattle of the West and Northwest, 

 and has been heard of in other portions of the country also, and 

 inquiries are constantly received for instructions in its treatment. 



CAUSE OF SCABIES, OR MANGE. 



Scabies, or mange, of the ox is a contagious disease caused by a para- 

 sitic mite. Cattle are chiefly affected with but two varieties of these 

 parasites, or mites, which belong to the class Arachnoidea. These are, 

 first, the Psoroptes; second, the Symbiotes. The first is the one which 

 most frequently affects them. It lives on the surface of the skin and by 

 its biting gives rise to great irritation and itching. It is most frequent 

 upon the sides of the neck and shoulders, at the base of the horns, and 

 at the root of the tail. From these points it spreads to the back and 

 sides, and may invade nearly the entire body. Its principal manifesta- 

 tions are more or less numerous pimples, exudation, and abundant 

 scaling off of the skin, falling out of the hair, and the formation of dry, 

 gray-brownish scabs. In the course of time the skin becomes thick- 

 ened, stiff, wrinkled, and acquires the consistence of leather. When 

 mange has spread over a large surface of the body, the animals lose 

 flesh and become weak and anemic, rendering them constitutionally 

 less able to withstand or combat the effects of the mites. At the same 

 time the decreased vigor and lessened vitality of the affected animals 

 favor more rapid multiplication of the mites and the further exten- 

 sion and intensification of the disease. Thus we have cause and effect 

 working together, with the result that scabies, or mange, of cattle may 

 in some cases prove fatal; especially are fatal terminations likely to 

 occur in the latter part of a severe winter among immature and grow- 

 ing animals, or those of adult and full age when in an unthrifty con- 

 dition at the time of becoming infected. Variations in the progress 



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