Krzysiak Michał K, Świątalska Agnieszka, Plis-Kuprianowicz Elwira, Konieczny Andrzej, Bakier Sławomir, Tomczuk Krzysztof, Larska Magdalena
Department of Parasitology and Invasive Diseases, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.
Veterinary Hygiene Laboratory, 80-316 Gdańsk, Poland.
J Vet Res. 2024 Dec 20;68(4):551-562. doi: 10.2478/jvetres-2024-0068. eCollection 2024 Dec.
In winter 2021/2022, a wolf population in the primeval Białowieża Forest in Poland was struck by an outbreak of severe mange caused by mixed infestations of and mites. We present an epidemiological analysis of this mange which caused significant morbidity and mortality.
Ten sites known for wolf activity were monitored by camera trapping. A diagnostic necropsy and testing of a young wolf was performed to determine the causes of death.
Five young wolves with severe alopecia of the entire body and some other individuals with minor to medium mange lesions were identified by the camera surveillance. The necropsy of the carcass revealed emaciation, dehydration and anaemia with starvation as the cause of death, likely attributable to severe infestation with and sp. mites. Rabies and infections with sp., sp., sp., sp. and tick-borne encephalitis virus were excluded by specific tests.
The described analysis is the first documented co-infestation of this kind in wolves. The outbreak coincided with very mild winter conditions with a high average minimum temperature, which may have favoured mite survival outside the host, and light snowfall, which may have influenced the wolves' ability to hunt. Other potential drivers of the outbreak could be the large proportion of wetland terrain, increasing number of wolves in the area and anthropogenic pressure on their habitats including the migration crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border and the increased presence of military and border forces, even despite the relief from the anthropogenic pressure from tourism due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
2021/2022年冬季，波兰原始比亚沃维耶扎森林中的狼群爆发了由疥螨和背肛螨混合感染引起的严重疥癣疫情。我们对此次导致显著发病和死亡的疥癣进行了流行病学分析。
通过相机诱捕对10个以狼活动而闻名的地点进行监测。对一只幼狼进行了诊断性尸检和检测，以确定死亡原因。
通过相机监测发现了5只全身严重脱毛的幼狼以及其他一些有轻度至中度疥癣病变的个体。对尸体的尸检显示消瘦、脱水和贫血，死亡原因是饥饿，这可能归因于疥螨和背肛螨的严重感染。通过特定检测排除了狂犬病以及由犬细小病毒、犬瘟热病毒、犬冠状病毒、犬副流感病毒和蜱传脑炎病毒引起的感染。
所描述的分析是首次记录在案的狼的这种混合感染情况。疫情爆发恰逢冬季气候非常温和，平均最低气温较高，这可能有利于螨虫在宿主体外存活，以及降雪量较少，这可能影响了狼的捕猎能力。疫情爆发的其他潜在驱动因素可能是湿地地形比例大、该地区狼的数量增加以及对其栖息地的人为压力，包括波兰 - 白俄罗斯边境的移民危机以及军事和边境部队的存在增加，尽管由于新冠疫情封锁，旅游业带来的人为压力有所缓解。
