We suggest that this epizootic was initiated by the appearance of a virulent strain of S. Usually, coyotes with severe mange had less (P < 0.05) internal fat. Reduced ovulation (P = 0.04) and pregnancy rates (P = 0.03) were associated with greater mange severity in adult females. There were more cases of severe mange among adult males (P < 0.01) during the stationary than the decline phase. Mange prevalence in juvenile males increased (P < 0.01) overwinter during the stationary and decline phases of the epizootic.

Adult males were more (P < 0.001) frequently infected than other age-sex classes during the stationary phase of peak prevalence. The epizootic encompassed 60,000 km2 in southern Texas during 1982-89. Mange appeared in 1975, peaked during spring 1980 (69% of coyotes infected), and then decreased until absent among coyotes collected in 1991. We collected data from 1,489 coyotes (Canis latrans) during 1974-91 in southern Texas and examined the effect of a sarcoptic mange epizootic on the coyote population. Although sarcoptic mange is a mite (Sarcoptes scabiei) infection that occurs as periodic epizootics in wild canids, the effect of this disease on populations has not been explained.

Coyote with mange