傳染性疾病會限制宿主族群規模,近代發現馴養動物的疾病會對野生動物族群造成傷害,因人為過度開發而增加疾病互相傳染的機會。疥癬是人畜共通傳染病的一種,廣泛分布全球,近代發現許多野生動物受到感染,嚴重會導致個體死亡,甚至會造成族群滅絕的風險。在2007年,首次發現臺灣野山羊(Capricornis swinhoei)感染穿孔疥癬蟎(Sarcoptes scabiei),其感染來源與對臺灣野山羊族群的影響尚不清楚,也不知道臺灣野山羊與馴養動物是否會互相傳染。因此,本研究以粒線體細胞色素c氧化酶第一次單元和微隨體標記分析感染台灣野山羊及馴養動物的穿孔疥癬蟎之親緣關係與基因交流。結果顯示感染臺灣野山羊的穿孔疥癬蟎與感染家羊、家兔的穿孔疥癬蟎親緣關係接近,可能來自共同的祖先,但最少可能已存在九萬七千多年,為臺灣野山羊族群固有的疾病。現今已隔離於臺灣野山羊族群內,近期沒有和馴養動物、其他野生動物互相傳染的現象。
Infection diseases can regulate or impact the host population dynamics, espencially for the newly introduced pathogen. Sarcoptic mange (Sarcoptes scabiei) with various variations was distributed worldwide and has been found species-specific infectation in human, domestic animals and wildlife. High mortalities have been observed in different wildlife populations worldwide. S. scabiei infectation in Formosan serow (Capricornis swinhoei) was first found in 2007. However, the source of scabies mites and their impacts on serow populations are unclear. The risk of mutual infection between Formosan serow and domestic animals are also unknown. This study revealed the phylogenetic relationship among scabies mites infecting wild Formosan serow and domestic animals in Taiwan. A 1023-bp fragment of the cytochrome oxidase gene subunit I (COI) on mitochondrion and 14 microsatellite markers were used for phylogenetic analysis. Results show that S. scabiei in serow, goat and rabbit populations may have the same origin. S. scabiei has isolated in serow population for at least 97,000 years. There is no recent transmission of S. scabiei among domestic animals and wild Formosan serow.