School of Science, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury, NSW, Australia.
School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia.
Integr Zool. 2024 May;19(3):387-399. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12776. Epub 2023 Oct 22.
There is currently limited information regarding the levels of infection and distribution of sarcoptic mange in the wombat population throughout Australia. We analyzed cases of sarcoptic mange in bare-nosed wombats reported into WomSAT, a website and mobile phone application where citizen scientists can upload sightings of wombats, burrows, and sarcoptic mange status. We used Maxent software to predict locations and the environmental factors associated with sarcoptic mange occurrence in bare-nosed wombats. A total of 1379 sarcoptic mange-infected and 3043 non-sarcoptic mange-infected wombats were reported by 674 and 841 citizen scientists, respectively. Of all the wombats reported to WomSAT from 2015 to 2019, 31.2% were infected with sarcoptic mange. Sarcoptic mange in bare-nosed wombats was reported in 502 suburbs across four states. New South Wales had the highest number of sarcoptic mange cases reported to WomSAT. There was no statistically significant seasonal variation of sarcoptic mange levels in bare-nosed wombats. The model showed that Euclidean distance to urban areas was the highest contributing factor for sarcoptic mange occurrence. As distance to urban areas decreased, the suitability for sarcoptic mange increased. Annual precipitation was the next contributing factor in the model, with higher rainfall of 400-700 mm correlating to an increase in sarcoptic mange occurrence. As the data collected to date have provided the largest-scale contemporary distribution of sarcoptic mange in wombats, data should continue to be collected by citizen scientists as it is an easy and low-cost method of collecting data over large areas. We suggest targeting the identified hotspot areas and more site-specific studies for studying and mitigating sarcoptic mange in bare-nosed wombats.
目前，有关澳大利亚整个袋熊种群中疥螨病的感染水平和分布情况的信息有限。我们分析了通过 WomSAT 报告的 bare-nosed 袋熊的疥螨病病例，WomSAT 是一个网站和移动应用程序，公民科学家可以在其中上传袋熊、洞穴和疥螨病状态的目击信息。我们使用 Maxent 软件来预测 bare-nosed 袋熊中与疥螨病发生相关的位置和环境因素。共有 674 名公民科学家报告了 1379 只感染疥螨病的 bare-nosed 袋熊和 3043 只未感染疥螨病的袋熊，而 841 名公民科学家报告了 3043 只未感染疥螨病的 bare-nosed 袋熊。在 2015 年至 2019 年期间向 WomSAT 报告的所有袋熊中，31.2%感染了疥螨病。在四个州的 502 个郊区都报告了 bare-nosed 袋熊的疥螨病。新南威尔士州向 WomSAT 报告的疥螨病病例最多。bare-nosed 袋熊的疥螨病水平没有表现出统计学上的季节性变化。该模型显示，与城市地区的欧几里得距离是疥螨病发生的最高贡献因素。随着与城市地区的距离减小，疥螨病的适宜性增加。年降水量是模型中的下一个贡献因素，400-700 毫米的较高降雨量与疥螨病的发生增加相关。由于迄今为止收集的数据提供了有史以来最大规模的袋熊疥螨病当代分布情况，因此公民科学家应继续收集数据，因为这是在大面积范围内收集数据的一种简单且低成本的方法。我们建议针对已确定的热点地区以及更具针对性的研究，以研究和减轻 bare-nosed 袋熊中的疥螨病。
