Two types of scab mites infesting man and sheep in North Sinai

Man and sheep were examined for scab mites infestations. Two types of mites were recovered, Sarcoptes scabiei and Psoroptes ovis. In sheep, 197 out of 939 (20.98%) were infested with S. scabiei (4.05%) and P. ovis (16.93%). The highly infested sheep were recorded in El Hassanah (28.22%) and the least infested ones were in Al Arish (15.85%). In man, 69 out of 790 (8.7%) were infested with S. scabiei (8.1%) and P. ovis (0.63%). The highly infested patients were recorded in El Hassanah (16.2%) followed by Rafah (11.7%), Bir Al-Abd (7.8%), and the least infested one was recorded in Al Arish (4.3%). In man, infestation was seen on one site in 15 patients (21.7%), on two sites in 32 patients (46.4%) and on more than two sites in 22 patients (31.9%). The highly infested site was the upper limbs followed by the lower limbs. Infestation on the face and ear, genital organs and abdomen were also encountered. Infestation on two sites was predominant on the upper and lower limbs followed by the lower limbs and genital organ. The results indicate that transmission of both scab mites, S. scabiei and P. ovis from sheep to man do occur. Infestation with scab mites was high in shepherds (79.7%) than in non shepherd patients (20.3%). However, man was more susceptible to S. scabiei than to P. ovis.