Diagnostic Study of the Mange Mites Infestation in Sheep in Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf province

This study was conducted to isolate and diagnose species of mites that cause mange in sheep and investigate percentages of infestation in different regions of AL- Najaf Province and also the effects of age, sex of animals on the prevalence of the disease were studied . The results of the microscopical examination of the skin scraping were revealed that 54 of the sheep were infested with mites with an overall percentage of infestation 7.17%. In this study one genus of mange mites were recorded that parasitized sheep Psoroptes communis var ovis which found on back, shoulder, fat tail regions of animal body. The prevalence of the infestation was highest in sheep older than two years (9.02%) and the lowest in sheep with age younger than two years (1.9%). The prevalence of mange mites in male sheep was 0.8% versus 8.2% in females. Statistically there were significant differences (P>0.05) according to the age and sex of animals and the differences in percentages of infestation were significant ( p< 0.05) according to different regions of study. The gross pathological changes of the mange mites on the infested skin were the laceration of epidermis with a scar formation and the skin’s loss of flexibility, toughness with sclerosis, fissuring and dryness, and the highest regions of animal body infestation by Psoroptes were the back , shoulder and fat tail .