Application of genotyping methods in the investigation of sources of dermatophytosis associated with vaccination in cattle

Abstract

Vaccines against trichophytosis introduced over 60 years ago contributed to a significant reduction in the prevalence of dermatophyte infections on cattle farms. Currently, vaccination is not obligatory but commonly used and recommended by veterinarians, which is associated with the renaissance of dermatophyte infections in farm animals. Importantly, vaccine administration may cause clinical lesions imitating a virulent form of dermatophytosis. Correct determination of a possible correlation of superficial changes with the vaccine strain plays a key role in taking therapeutic measures. In this study, the usefulness of genotyping methods (melting‐point‐PCR and amplified fragment length polymorphism) in identification of the source of dermatophyte infection in cases correlated with vaccine administration is examined. The results revealed that dermatophytes isolated from skin lesions in calves temporarily associated with vaccine administration had an identical electrophoretic profile with the vaccine strain and differed from the reference strain of Trichophyton verrucosum CBS365.53. In conclusion, genotyping methods are a useful tool for rapid and reliable identification of the vaccine source of superficial lesions in calves. Their high resolution, speed of execution and low costs are undoubted advantages in the implementation for routine use in similar cases of dermatophyte infections.

Real-Time PCR as an Alternative Technique for Detection of Dermatophytes in Cattle Herds

“…Many factors observed at farm and industry levels justified the introduction of the vaccine on a wide scale in the early 1970s [17], and the cost-benefit considerations supported the importance of its use [11,35]. More than 50 years after the first widespread use of vaccines against trichophytosis, these preparations are still used with an essentially unchanged composition and dosing [36]. Most commercially available vaccines contain live attenuated or inactivated T. verrucosum strains, with spores and other fungal elements providing ample exposure of surface antigens.…”

“…The widespread application and the long time period since the introduction of the vaccine has led to a significant reduction in the prevalence of symptomatic ringworm in cattle [3,36]. Currently, cattle ringworm is noted at certain times of the year, i.e., autumn and spring, and is most often regarded as self-limiting after 3-5 weeks without application of any additional medicinal preparations [37,38].…”

Bringing livestock back into the fold: Animal research in the Annals of Applied Biology—Past, present and future

“…Since the relaunch of applied farm animal health and welfare research in the journal in 2019, a number of papers have been published covering a range of themes. Łagowski, Gnat, Nowakiewicz, Osińska, and Zięba (2020) presented evidence from laboratory genotyping methods to demonstrate how the routine administration of a commercial vaccine against the dermatophyte Trichophyton verrucosum to calves resulted in clinical cases of dermatophytosis (ringworm) on a number of farms in Poland. This phenomenon had previously been described in the scientific literature, but rarely.…”

A global view on fungal infections in humans and animals: infections caused by dimorphic fungi and dermatophytoses

“…However, dermatophytosis in animals is commonly considered to be a self-limiting disease and its course of duration usually varies from 4 to 12 weeks (Radostits et al 2007;Łagowski et al 2020c). Moreover the commercially available vaccines are preparations of either live attenuated or inactivated cells of the fungus, including spores and fragments of mycelium (Lund et al 2014;Łagowski et al 2020d). The host range of dermatophytes connects the species of the animal and the pathogen, which is consistent with the diverse and specific keratinolytic activity of the fungus (Gnat et al 2019b).…”