Psorergatidae mite infestation in the brown rat Rattusnorvegicus (Rodentia, Muridae): the first record of Psorergatesrattus (Acariformes, Prostigmata) in Europe

Abstract

Psorergates rattus Fain & Goff, 1986 has been found in the brown rat Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769) in Poland. The species has previously been found only once, in the tail base of the brown rat in the United States. In the present case, ten rats from two localities in Poland (Pomerania) were examined and infestation was discovered in 20% of them, with a total of 12 mites found. This is not only the first discovery of the species in Poland and the second globally, but also the first observation of representatives of Psorergatidae in rodents of the genus Rattus in Europe. Moreover, immature specimens of P. rattus have been observed for the first time. The infestation was asymptomatic, although in the earlier study mange was observed despite the relatively low density of the mites, which indicates a potential pathogenic threat not only to wild rat populations, but also to laboratory animals and pets.

Psorergatic mange in two ring‐tailed lemurs (Lemur catta)

“…Rodents can be asymptomatic carriers of Psorobia and Psorergates sp., and lesions develop only after a stress or immunosuppression. 1,6 Thus, one hypothesis is that the two lemurs arrived in their zoos being already infected but asymptomatic. For the female, the nodules began to develop when it was in late lactation, which could have been a potential stressor.…”

“…Other lemurs within the two groups were not tested or treated for Psorobia sp. On asymptomatic rats carrying Psorobia rattus , skin scrapings are not sensitive and skin digestion and decantation on dead rats are necessary to collect parasites 6 . Parasites were concentrated in the nodules in the two lemurs, and skin scrapings randomly performed on the body of an asymptomatic animal has a high‐risk to lead to false‐negative results.…”

“…On asymptomatic rats carrying Psorobia rattus, skin scrapings are not sensitive and skin digestion and decantation on dead rats are necessary to collect parasites. 6 Parasites were concentrated in the nodules in the two lemurs, and skin scrapings randomly performed on the body of an asymptomatic animal has a high-risk to lead to false-negative results. An application of amitraz solution on the whole body of the lemurs would have increased the risk of adverse side effects.…”

“…Rodents can be asymptomatic carriers of Psorobia and Psorergates sp., and lesions develop only after a stress or immunosuppression 1,6 . Thus, one hypothesis is that the two lemurs arrived in their zoos being already infected but asymptomatic.…”

Acarorum Catalogus Viii

“…(Lukoschus, de Cock & Driessen, 1971) -Psorergates apodemi, P. baueri, P. dissimilis Azerbaidzhan (Gadjiev et al, 1988) -Psorobia ovis Belgium Fain & Lukoschus, 1968) -Psorergates muricola, Psorergatoides kerivoulae, P. rhinolophi; Psorobia foinae Bulgaria (Beron, 1970(Beron, , 1973 -Psorergates apodemi, P. muricola Denmark Groenland (Giesen, 1990) -Psorergates sp. France (Neumann, 1893;Lukoschus, 1968aLukoschus, , 1968b -Psorergates desmanae, P. simplex, Psorergatoides rhinolophi Germany (Lukoschus, Fain & Beaujean, 1967;Lukoschus, de Cock & Driessen, 1971;Heddergott & Claussen, 2008) -Psorergates apodemi, P. muscardinus, P. zibethicalis, Psorergatoides nyctali, P. rhinolophi Great Britain (Michael, 1889;Andrews, Baker, Fox & Brizuela, 1997;Baker, 2005) -Psorergates musculinus, Psorergatoides nyctali, Psorobia bos Holland Lukoschus, Fain & Beaujean, 1967;Lukoschus, 1968aLukoschus, , 1969Lukoschus, de Cock & Driessen, 1971;Giessen, 1990) -Psorergates agrestis, P. apodemi, P. crocidurae, P. dissimilis, P. micromydis, P. microti, P. neerlandicus, P. oeconomi, P. simplex, P. sorici, P. talpae; Psorobia mustelae Italy (Piana, 1886;de Cock, Lukoschus & Ariani, 1970) -Psorergates etruscus; Psorergatoides rhinolophi Poland (Haitlinger, 1978(Haitlinger, , 1979b(Haitlinger, , 1986(Haitlinger, , 1987(Haitlinger, , 1997Izdebska & Fryderyk, 2012;Cierocka & Izdebska, 2019) -Psorergates apodemi, P. dissimilis, P. microti, P. muricola, P. musculinus, P. olawaensis, P. polonicus, P. rattus, P. simplex, Psorergatoides kerivoulae Romania (Haitlinger, 1980) -Psorergates apodemi Russia (all) (Dubinin, 1953…”