SARCOPTIC SCABIES (ACARIASIS) IN SWINE- 



Sarcoptes Scabei v. Suis : Larger than S. of horse ; another variety like 

 the S. minor of the cat. Susceptible : Man and dog for 8 or lo days atleast. 

 High bred English swine most subject. Symptoms : Usually starts where 

 skin is thin, ears, eyelids, axilla, thigh, and extends to whole body. Vio- 

 lent itching, rubbing, fine red papules, puckering, erect bristles, pea like 

 elevations, scales, leathery covering, abrasions, sores, ulcerations, ansemia, 

 unthrift. Acarus beneath crust removed in sunshine or warm room ; visible 

 to eye. Treatment : Remove scurf with warm soapsuds and brush, then 

 sulphur ointment, calcium sulphide solution, chloride of lime, or other anti- 

 psoric agent. Disinfect the pen, or abandon it. 



The pig, like man, suffers from the sarcoptic .scabies only. 



Sarcoptes Scabei var. Suis (S. Squamiferus) resembles 

 that of horse and ox, but is somewhat larger (ovigerous female 

 .40 to .50 mm. long ; male .25 to .35 mm.)- This lives also on 

 the dog, and Roloff sought to identify it with the sarcoptes caprce 

 of the dwarf goat of Kartoum. Guzzoni identified a smaller 

 variety on swine, the female being but .29 mm. long and the 

 male but .18 mm. This approximates in size to the sarcoptes 

 minor of the cat. The pig may therefore be said to harbor the 

 largest and nearly the smallest sarcoptes scabei. 



Animals Susceptible. Transferred to man the large sar- 

 coptes produces intense irritation which lasts about five days 

 (Bateman, etc.), ten days (Gerlach), or even indefinitely (Dela- 

 fond). In the dog it caused a violent eruption in forty-eight 

 hours, which, however, had subsided by the eighth day. 



In pigs the improved English breeds suffer most, and in some 

 instances common breeds have escaped, though running with the 

 affected improved animals (Neumann). 



Symptoms. The disease may start at any point where the 

 acarus is placed, but by preference where the skin is thin, the 

 roots, back, and inside of the ears, the eyelids, the axilla, the 

 inner surface of the thighs, and gradually extends to the rest of 

 the body. There is violent itching and rubbing, and a close ex- 

 amination may detect some red, closely set papules. The skin at 

 such points is wrinkled and the bristles stand erect, and later are 

 loosened and shed, lying on the surface in matted tufts. Behind 

 the ears or elsewhere the papules may become projecting tuber- 



195 



