Sarcoptic_Chorioptic

Sarcoptic and Chorioptic mange are skin diseases, which are caused by tiny mites. Sarcoptic mange ("Scabies") affects mainly the head and the neck of the goat, whereas Chorioptic mange affects mostly the lower limbs and the udder or the scrotum.

The first symptom of Sarcoptic mange is a loss of hair on the neck and on the back part of the head. Then nodules start to form, and finally the skin thickens and becomes dark, wrinkly, and necrotic. The infection is extremely itchy, and the goat will not stop scratching the back of her head, until it is an open, bleeding wound (secondary infections of these wounds are the main health hazard of scabies!). Fortunately, Sarcoptic mange is easy to treat with 1ccm of Ivermectin injection subcutaneously for every 25 kg of bodyweight, to be repeated after 7 days. Zinc-rich sun cream (the white, sticky stuff surfers like) protects the naked skin against sunburn, and helps the skin to heal.

Every winter, during the cold and wet weather, a few of our goats are affected by Chorioptic mange. Most cases are fairly mild. The Picture (right) shows an unusually sever infection, normally the goats are less severely affected (some crusts and ulcerations on the lower limbs). Because Chorioptic mites, different to Sarcoptic mites, live on skin debris (not blood), injection of Ivermectin does not kill them all. Treatment with an organophosphorous insecticide, which acts as anticholesterase compound (e.g. Inca Malaban Wash), is successful, but treats only the symptoms. The mites cannot be eradicated, and re-infection will occur. Since Malaban Wash is dangereous for humans, we stopped treating the goats against Chorioptic mites. Our current protocol is to keep the affected animals under close observation to avoid severe health problems due to secondary infections, and to treat the affected limbs with zinc-rich sun cream from time to time to support the natural defense and healing process of the skin (full article).