scabies

noun

Etymology: From Middle English scabies, scabiez, from Latin scabiēs (“scurf; scab, mange, itch”), from scabō (“scratch, scrape”, verb).

1. An infestation of parasitic mites, Sarcoptes scabiei, causing intense itching caused by the mites burrowing into the skin of humans and other animals. It is easily transmissible from human to human; secondary skin infection may occur.

   “Further, just as the discovery of the cause of scabies proved the absurdity of many of the old prescriptions for the prevention and treatment of that disease; so the discovery of the cause of splenic fever, and other such maladies, has given a new direction to prophylactic and curative measures against the worst scourges of humanity.”