Prevalence of dermatophilosis, ringworm and mange in camels (Camelus dromedarius) at Qassim region, central of Saudi Arabia

This study was executed to determine the prevalence of dermatophilosis, ringworm and mange in dromedary camels at Qassim region, central of Saudi Arabia. One thousand dromedary camels were used in this study. The prevalence of dermatophilosis, ringworm, mange and concurrent infection by ringworm and mange among examined camels was 1.40%, 13.90%, 16.10% and 3.70% respectively. The prevalence of ringworm (p = 0.0001) and concurrent infection by ringworm and mange (p = 0.0005) was significantly higher in camels under three years than camels older than three years. Differences were not significant among different age groups in case of dermatophilosis (p = 0.9) and mange (p = 0.3). The prevalence of concurrent infection by ringworm and mange was significantly (0.006) higher in male (8.66%) camels than female (2.98%) ones. The prevalence was not significantly differs between male and female camels in cases of dermatophilosis (p = 0.6), ringworm (p = 0.9) and mange (p = 0.2). Clinically, camels infected with dermatophilosis showed exudative dermatitis and thick greasy scabs. Ringworm infected camels showed non -pruritic skin lesions in the form of circular dry crusty hairless areas with powdery scales not associated with itching. Mange infected camels showed cutaneous erythema and terminated by crust formation and hair loss in addition to thickening and wrinkling of the skin. It can concluded that skin diseases in dromedary camels are common and great attention should applied to decrease such infections.