Skin disease in donkeys (Equus asinus): a retrospective study from four veterinary schools

Background Donkeys are important throughout the world as work animals and occasionally as pets or a meat source. Most descriptions of skin disease in donkeys are reported in small case series, textbooks or review articles. Hypothesis/Objectives To document skin diseases and their prevalence in donkeys and to investigate predilections for the most common conditions. Animals Case populations at four veterinary schools totalling 156 donkeys. Methods and materials A retrospective study was performed by searching computerized medical records, using the key word “donkey”, at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis (UCD). Records of donkeys from the veterinary schools in Nantes, France; Utrecht, Netherlands and Ghent, Belgium were searched in a similar manner. The time periods included in the searches varied by institution. Results At UCD, 83 of 346 (24%) of donkeys had skin disease noted in their records. The most common diagnoses were insect bite hypersensitivity, sarcoid and habronemiasis. At Nantes, 36 of 144 (25%) had skin disease and the most common diagnoses were sarcoid and superficial pyoderma. At Utrecht 23 of 143 (16%) had skin disease and the most common diagnosis was dermatophytosis. At Ghent, 14 of 320 (4%) had skin disease and the most common diagnosis was sarcoid. Conclusions and clinical importance Cutaneous conditions in donkeys are common. Age, sex and breed predisposition and the most common diagnoses varied with geographical location. Clinicians should include a dermatological examination regardless of the reason for presentation. Résumé Contexte Les singes sont nombreux à travers le monde en tant qu'animal de travail et occasionnellement comme animal de compagnie ou comme source de nourriture. La plupart des descriptions des dermatoses du singe est rapportée dans de petites séries de cas, livres ou articles de revue. Hypothèses/Objectifs Documenter les dermatoses et leur prévalence chez le singe et d’étudier les prédilections pour les atteintes les plus fréquentes. Sujets Les populations de cas de quatre écoles vétérinaires totalisant 156 singes. Matériel et méthode Une étude rétrospective a été réalisée par recherche sur données numérisées à l'aide du mot clé « singe » à l’école vétérinaire, Université de Californie, Davis (UCD). Les données des singes de l’école vétérinaire de Nantes, France; Utrecht, Pays Bas et Ghent, Belgique ont été recherché de la même manière. Les périodes d'inclusion variaient selon les éc