Cattle Scabies IRWIN

SCABIES is a contagious skin disease caused by minute parasitic organisms known as mites. It affects cattle of all ages and breeds. Sometimes it is referred to as scab, mange, or barn itch. Similar infections attack other classes of livestock, wild animals, and birds, as well as people. Scabies, the medical term for which is acariasis, is common throughout the world. It generally causes a severe inflammation of the skin and itching. Mites are related to ticks, spiders, and scorpions, and are not true insects. Unlike insects, adult mites have 4 pairs of legs instead of 3. They are wingless and usually are so small that they can barely be seen with the naked eye. Of the thousands of known kinds of mites, four are commonly parasitic to cattle. Each of the four produces a different type of skin reaction. Two, known as psoroptic and chorioptic mites, live on the surface of the skin and cause a condition generally spoken of as scabies. Two others, the sarcoptic and the demodectic mites, burrow under the surface of the skin and produce mange.