Pathological and parasitological examinations of samples from
dead animals
All of the dead gorals and 1 dead serow had obvious mite-induced
cutaneous lesions, characterized by bleeding crusts, hyperkeratosis,
cutaneous chapping and alopecia, on all four legs and the head and trunk
(Fig. 3). The gross records of cutaneous lesions from the dead animals
are shown in table 3. Sarcoptic mange mainly occurred on all four legs
and the head, especially on the lips and joints (Fig. 3). This would
severely impact eating and walking in these animals (S4).
Histopathologically, mites in the epidermal layer were observed in all
goral and serow samples but not in samples from the other animals in
this study (Fig. 4A, Band C). Typical histopathological lesions were
characterized by hyperkeratosis, hyperplasia and papillomatosis in the
epidermal layer; squamous epithelium degeneration; and inflammatory cell
infiltration(Fig. 4A, Band C). The capillaries were dilated and
congested in dermis (Fig. 4A). In the alopecic area, tissue with
extensive exfoliated hyperkeratosis covered the epidermis, and all the
epidermis and dermis tissues exhibited necrosis and extensive neutrophil
infiltration (Fig. 4B). The histopathological scores are presented in
table 3. The number of cutaneous lesions between gorals from Changan and
Ningshan was not significantly different (p =0.21>0.05). Dead
takins, giant pandas, golden monkeys and wild boars had no cutaneous
lesions on gross or histological examination in this study.
Parasitologically, mites and eggs were observed in only cutaneous
scrapings and cultures from all dead gorals and serows under the
microscope. Mites from both gorals and serows presented a globular
idiosoma with triangular spikes on the dorsal surface, a wide
gnathosoma, short and thick posterior legs and a terminal anus,
consistent with S. scabiei morphology (Fig. 4D)