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Expanded molecular typing of Sarcoptes scabiei provides further evidence of disease spillover events in the epidemiology of sarcoptic mange in Australian marsupials
Citation
Fraser, TA and Holme, R and Martin, AM and Whiteley, P and Montarello, M and Raw, C and Carver, S and Polkinghorne, A, Expanded molecular typing of Sarcoptes scabiei provides further evidence of disease spillover events in the epidemiology of sarcoptic mange in Australian marsupials, Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 55, (1) pp. 231-237. ISSN 0090-3558 (2019) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2019 Wildlife Disease Association
Abstract
The invasive ectoparasite Sarcoptes scabiei affects the welfare and conservation of Australian marsupials. Molecular data suggest that spillover from other hosts may be responsible for the emergence of this infectious disease, but the scale of such studies is limited. We performed expanded molecular typing of the S. scabiei mitochondrial cox1 gene from 81 skin scrapings from infested wombats (Vombatus ursinus), koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), and dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) across Australia. Combined with existing S. scabiei sequences, our analysis revealed 16 haplotypes among Australian animals, sharing between 93.3% and 99.7% sequence similarity. While some sequences were unique to specific hosts or to Australia, key haplotypes could be detected across several marsupial hosts as well as to wild or domestic canids in Australia. We identified 43 cox1 haplotypes with many Australian haplotypes identical to S. scabiei mites from inside and outside Europe. We concluded that multiple introduction events were plausible explanations to the origin and emergence of this parasite into Australian marsupials and that disease spillover from canids was likely. Together, our greatly expanded S. scabiei sequence dataset provided a more nuanced picture of both spillover and sustained intraspecific transmission for this important parasite.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | epidemiology, intraspecific transmission, molecular typing, Sarcoptes scabiei, scabies, spillover |
| Research Division: | Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences |
| Research Group: | Veterinary sciences |
| Research Field: | Veterinary parasitology |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Terrestrial systems and management |
| Objective Field: | Control of pests, diseases and exotic species in terrestrial environments |
| UTAS Author: | Fraser, TA (Ms Tamieka Fraser) |
| UTAS Author: | Martin, AM (Ms Alynn Martin) |
| UTAS Author: | Carver, S (Associate Professor Scott Carver) |
| ID Code: | 149604 |
| Year Published: | 2019 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 8 |
| Deposited By: | Zoology |
| Deposited On: | 2022-04-05 |
| Last Modified: | 2022-05-24 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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