Wombats acquired scabies from humans and/or dogs from outside Australia.

ABSTRACT

According to previous studies, Sarcoptes mites of wombats were relatively recently introduced into Australia by colonizers and/or their dogs. However, that affirmation has been called into question due to apparent flaws in the design of the phylogenetic studies. With the aim of providing a definitive answer to this question, a part of the mitochondrial gene coding for 12S rRNA of S. scabiei mites from 23 humans and one dog collected in France was sequenced and a phylogenetic analysis including the sequences previously deposited in Genbank was performed. Phylogenetic analysis did not show host segregation or geographical isolation of the mites. Conversely, the present work suggested that mange in wombats is indeed due to the introduction of S. scabiei into Australia by immigrating individuals and/or their companion animals.