Infestations by rhabditiform nematodes and acarids of the genus Raillietia are considered the primary causes of external otitis in cattle in tropical regions. Recently, yeasts of the genus Malassezia have been associated with a relatively high percentage of otitis cases, but the occurrence of other yeasts and mycelial fungi has not yet been reported in the literature. This work studied the presence of fungi in the ear canal of 45 cattle with external parasitic otitis. The results were positive for yeasts of the genus Malassezia in 31 (68.9 %) of the 45 cultures in Mycosel medium supplemented with olive oil. The 45 cultures in Sabouraud dextrose medium revealed the growth of seven (15.5 %) yeasts of the genus Candida, ®ve (11.1 %) Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, two (4.4 %) fungi of the genus Aspergillus and eight`Micelia sterilia'. Future studies may con®rm and elucidate the importance of these agents in the aetiology of bovine otitis. U. S.

Infestations by rhabditiform nematodes and acarids of the genus Raillietia are considered the primary causes of external otitis in cattle in tropical regions. Recently, yeasts of the genus Malassezia have been associated with a relatively high percentage of otitis cases, but the occurrence of other yeasts and mycelial fungi has not yet been reported in the literature. This work studied the presence of fungi in the ear canal of 45 cattle with external parasitic otitis. The results were positive for yeasts of the genus Malassezia in 31 (68.9%) of the 45 cultures in Mycosel medium supplemented with olive oil. The 45 cultures in Sabouraud dextrose medium revealed the growth of seven (15.5%) yeasts of the genus Candida, five (11.1%) Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, two (4.4%) fungi of the genus Aspergillus and eight 'Micelia sterilia'. Future studies may confirm and elucidate the importance of these agents in the aetiology of bovine otitis.

A total of 133 Candida spp. strains originating from a group of 100 patients from Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, between March 1995 and December 1996, were first identified and classified into six different species: Candida albicans (51%), C. tropicalis (33%), C. parapsilosis (8%), C. glabrata (5%), C. krusei (2%) and C. guilliermondii (1%). All C. albicans strains were serotyped and 55% of these were found to belong to serotype A and 45% belonging to serotype B. The medical records of each patient were examined to characterise and survey the main risk factors associated with them. Most of the patients were between 60- and 80-years-old, 53% were males and 47% were females. Most patients were from the intensive care unit (ICU). Only 10 patients were not exposed to antimicrobial agents and 72 patients were not prescribed antifungal agents. Forty patients showed no other clinical condition and all showed some underlying disease that justified hospitalization. Eighty-seven patients had undergone some invasive procedure and 31 patients had been submitted to two different procedures simultaneously.

A total of 122 Candida spp. strains, isolated from a group of 100 patients hospitalized in the Santa Casa de Misericordia of Belo Horizonte were assayed for in vitro susceptibility to amphotericin B, fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole and flucytosine using a microbroth technique proposed by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. In this study large variations were observed among minimum inhibitory concentration values depending on the species tested. The statistical analysis (Kruskal-Wallis test) showed that itraconazole and flucytosine were the more efficient antifungal drugs for most of species, and amphotericin B and fluconazole were the least efficient.

There are few numbers of biochemical tests for specie classification in the genus Malassezia and these can to fail in the identification of the atypical isolates. In this study, typical and atypical isolates were analysed by random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) to compare with biochemical-physiological characteristics of the Malassezia species from bovine and canine ears. RAPD band patterns using OPA4 primer clustered all isolates according its biochemicalphysiological characteristics in the species from cattle and dog. Malassezia nana and M. sympodialis isolates were sub-clustered in separated sub-branches and both were from a different branch of the other species. The DNA pattern of the two atypical lipid-dependent M. pachydermatis strains was similar with of other typical strains but it did not show the one specific band of 200bp. Future studies in the specific RAPD bands of genetic profiles can be important to corroborate the identification of typical and atypical isolates of the genus Malassezia.