Ectoparasitic dermatitis in free-ranging swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor) in New South Wales.

Abstract

We report extensive dermatological lesions in three, free-ranging, adult, male swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor), presented to Taronga Western Plains Zoo wildlife hospital. All three animals were moderately infested with the louse species Heterodoxus ualabati, and two were concurrently infested with a previously undescribed sarcoptiform mite of the genus Diabolicoptes. Histological changes included moderate to marked compact hyperkeratosis, focal deep pyoderma and superficial dermatophytosis. Mild to moderate hyperplastic perivascular and periadnexal dermatitis with marked superficial and follicular hyperkeratosis was evident in the skin of the inguinal region and lateral thigh of the two wallabies infested with the Diabolicoptes species. This is the first report of ectoparasitic dermatitis in free-ranging swamp wallabies and the first report of mites of the genus Diabolicoptes from a macropodid.