Mites, Lice, & Fleas - Ectoparasites Flashcards
(27 cards)
Lice
1. Disease:
2. Transmission:
3. Zoonosis:
- Disease:
- Irritation, rubbing, scratching, biting, sleeplessness, nervous, alopecia - Transmission:
- Highly contagious withing species via direct contact w/host or indirect contact
- Not shared between cats and dogs NORMALLY - Zoonosis:
- No zoonotic risk
What is an ectoparasite?
Lives on or outside the hosts body
Ectoparasite control (4)
- Correct identification
- Understanding life cycle
- Treatment of animals
- Prevention:
- Environmental control
- Strategic insecticides
- Client ed
Anthropods (phylum)
Classes:
1. Insecta
2. Acarina
- Fleas, lice, biting flies
- Mites and ticks
Diagnostic procedures for ectoparasites (3)
- Visual exam (gross)
- Skin scraping (mineral oil)
- Cellophane tape
Skin scrape
1. Indication:
2. Tools: (3)
3. Technique: (~10)
- Indication:
- For collection of mites that live in and on the skin - Tools:
- #10 scalpel blade
- Mineral oil
- Microscope slides - Technique:
- Choose sites w/hair loss
- Dull blade
- Mineral oil on slide and blade
- Scrape skin in one direction, careful to not cut skin w/blade
- Collect until capillary blood is visualized
- Place on slide
- Collect from 3 to 4 sites
- Important for monitoring therapy success
Tape prep
1. Indication:
2. Tools: (3)
3. Technique: (3)
- Indication:
- Collection of lice, mites (yeast) for identification from surface of skin - Tools:
- Cellophane tape
- Microscope slide
- Mineral oil - Technique:
- Use adhesive of tape to collect sample
- Place mineral oil on slide
- Place tape over mineral oil on slide
Lice: Mallophaga
1. Type:
2. Body description:
3. Host specificity:
- Type:
- Chewing or biting lice (usually feed on dander) - Body description:
- Wingless, flat bodies with wide heads, yellow - Host specificity:
- Species specific (mammal or bird)
Lice: Anoplura
1. Type:
2. Body description:
3. Host specificity:
- Type:
- Sucking lice - Body description:
- Red to gray, depends on last blood feeding
- Narrow heads - Host specificity:
- Claws are species specific
- Don’t occur in cats or birds
Mites
Class: Acarina (related to ticks)
- Burrowing mites (4)
- Surface mites (4)
- Burrowing:
- Sarcoptes: Dog common
- Notoedres
- Cnemidocoptes
- Demodex: Dog common - Surface:
- Psoroptes: Rabbit common
- Chorioptes
- Otodectes: Cat common
- Cheyletiella: Rabbit common
Sarcoptes
1. Most common in:
2. Zoonosis:
3. Life stage:
Hint: They are all pedicled (have feet)
- Most common in:
- Dogs & swine - Zoonosis:
- They are a zoonotic mite - Life stage:
- Entire 4 life stages spent on host
- Male & female breed on skin surface
T/F: Sarcoptes are all pedicled (have feet) and tunnel within the epidermis
True
T/F: Sarcoptes infestation is extremely puritic & severe hair/wool loss is common
True
Demodex canis
1. Common found on:
2. Clinical disease:
3. Diagnosis:
4. Treatment:
- Common found on:
- Hair follicles of dogs & most species are considered normal flora - Clinical disease:
- Most do not develop clinical disease
- Older than 1yr old dogs develop alopecia, bad sign. Typically due to immune system w/host - Diagnosis:
- Microscope exam on a skin scrape
- Count number of adults, juveniles, & eggs of entire slide - Treatment:
- May not need treatment in young puppies
- Others may require aggressive therapy oral meds
Psoroptes is…
A family of mites reside on the surface of the skin or within the external ear canal
Psoroptes
1. Life cycle:
2. Transmission:
3. Clinical signs:
4. Diagnosis:
- Life cycle:
- Entire spent on host (5 stages) - Transmission:
- Between cats and dogs
- Scratch ears and shake head - Clinical signs:
- Severe: head tilt, circling, convulsions, & ear hematomas
- Head shaking, scratching
- Secondary infections are common - Diagnosis:
- Ear cytology in mineral oil
- Mites: usually moving
- Eggs
T/F: Psoroptes cuniculi
Sheep Keds
1. Shape:
2. Life cycle:
3. Signs:
- Shape:
- Wingless flies - Life cycle:
- Entire life cycle on host - Signs:
- Severe anemia
- Damage to wool
What is a fly strike?
When flies cause skin trauma due to multiple bites in a small area.
Commonly occurs around the eyes and head
What is the process of Myiasis?
Hint: This happened to Dahlia
Process of fly larval development in the tissues of the host.
Gastrophilus: Found in stomach of horses
1. Appearance:
2. Lifecycle:
3. Zoonosis:
- Appearance:
- Adults are “Bee like” - Lifecycle:
- Lay eggs on hairs of horse
- Horse ingests eggs, they migrate to GI tract
- Potential for mucosal damage to be severe - Zoonosis:
- Rare
T/F: Potential for mucosal damage to be severe in gastrophilus in horses
True
Hypoderma “Cattle grub”
1. Life cycle:
2. Clinical signs:
- Adults lay eggs on hocks of cattle and larva burrow into skin and migrate to dorsum to develop over the winter
- Annoyance
- Rarely paralysis if toxin released by bot in spinal cord
T/F: Hypoderma can downgrade the meat of cattle
True
