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Summary The occurrence of dermatophytes and other keratinophilic fungi was investigated in 700 small mammals representing 9 species of rodents and one of shrew. Three species of dermatophytes were isolated with an overall prevalence of 16.6%. These included Trichophyton simii (97 isolates), T. mentagrophytes var. granulate (4) and Microsporum gypseum (15). None of the animals yielding dermatophytes showed any skin lesions nor did their hair fluoresce under ultra‐violet light. Of the 97 isolates of T. simii, 81 originated from Delhi and 16 from Alwar (Rajasthan). A majority of the isolates of T. simii were obtained from Tatera indica (The Indian gerbil), the dominant field rodent of the plains and peninsular India, and Suncus murinus, a common shrew. The consistent recovery of T. simii from the fur of these animals trapped over a period of 5 years from a particular rural site in Delhi and its association with several other species of small mammals in contrast to its sporadic occurrence in soil suggests that it is predominantly a zoophilic species. The prevalence of other species of keratinophilic fungi in the animals investigated was a follows: Chrysosporium tropicum (3.6 %), C. keratinophvlum (1 %), Keratinophyton terreum (1.7%), Anixiopsis stercoraria (0.4%), Pseudoarachniotus hya‐linosporus (0.9 %), Auxarthron zuffianum (0.8 %) and Ctenomyces serratus (0.7 %). Zusammenfassung 700 kleine Säugetiere, 9 Nagetierarten und 1 Spitzmausart einschließend, wurden auf das Vorkommen von Dermatophyten und anderen keratinophilen Pilzen untersucht. Der Anteil von 3 isolierten Dermatophytenarten betrug 16,6 %. Gezüchtet wurden Trichophyton simii (97 Stämme), Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. granulare (2) und Microsporum gypseum (15).

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