the scabby fox
Fox suffers from scab
A hairless backside and tail, a swollen face and an almost unbearable itch – a fox affected by scab is hardly a pleasant sight. Most affected foxes die a painful death, emaciated.
Invisible bug
Scab is caused by itch mites, only half-a-millimetre large and related to the tick. It is a parasite that digs into the fox's skin, where eggs are laid. Larvae, hatched from the eggs, continue the digging.
From fox to fox
Scab spreads from fox to fox during encounters at the burrow or skirmishes over territory.
Fast spreading
The first cases were discovered in 1975 in northern Sweden. Ten years later the whole country was affected, except for the islands of Öland and Gotland. The number of foxes was cut in half, but since 1990 their numbers have increased.
