Expanded Molecular Typing of Sarcoptes scabiei Provides Further Evidence of Disease Spillover Events in the Epidemiology of Sarcoptic Mange in Australian Marsupials

Tamieka A Fraser; Roz Holme; Alynn Martin; Pam Whiteley; Merridy Montarello; Cam Raw; Scott Carver; Adam Polkinghorne

doi:10.7589/2018-04-101

Back

Expanded Molecular Typing of Sarcoptes scabiei Provides Further Evidence of Disease Spillover Events in the Epidemiology of Sarcoptic Mange in Australian Marsupials

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Expanded Molecular Typing of Sarcoptes scabiei Provides Further Evidence of Disease Spillover Events in the Epidemiology of Sarcoptic Mange in Australian Marsupials

Tamieka A Fraser, Roz Holme, Alynn Martin, Pam Whiteley, Merridy Montarello, Cam Raw, Scott Carver and Adam Polkinghorne

Journal of Wildlife Diseases, Vol.55(1), pp.231-238

2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7589/2018-04-101

Files and links (1)

url

https://doi.org/10.7589/2018-04-101View

Published Version

Abstract

epidemiology

intraspecific transmission

molecular typing

Sarcoptes scabiei

scabies

spillover

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.

Details

Title: Expanded Molecular Typing of Sarcoptes scabiei Provides Further Evidence of Disease Spillover Events in the Epidemiology of Sarcoptic Mange in Australian Marsupials
Authors: Tamieka A Fraser (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Roz Holme (Author) - Cedar Creek Wombat Rescue Inc. & Hospital
Alynn Martin (Author) - University of Tasmania
Pam Whiteley (Author) - University of Melbourne
Merridy Montarello (Author) - Fauna Rescue SA Inc.
Cam Raw (Author) - University of Melbourne
Scott Carver (Author) - University of Tasmania
Adam Polkinghorne (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Publication details: Journal of Wildlife Diseases, Vol.55(1), pp.231-238
Publisher: Wildlife Disease Association, Inc.
Date published: 2019
DOI: 10.7589/2018-04-101
ISSN: 0090-3558
Organisation Unit: School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99451117502621
Output Type: Journal article

Metrics

1 File views/ downloads

523 Record Views

16 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Veterinary Sciences

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

Source: InCites