Dermatophytes and other Keratinophilic Fungi Recovered from Small Mammals in India***

Abstract

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).

Rodentborne fungal pathogens in wetland agroecosystem

“…Mailing address: Tropical Institute of Ecological Sciences, Velloor P.O, K.K Road, Kottayam, 686 501, Kerala, India. ; E-mail: doctorfungus007@gmail.com Rodentborne fungal pathogens (6). Rodentborne diseases are considered as a 'human health time bomb' (7).…”

Fungi Associated with the Hairs of Goat and Sheep in Libya

“…The presence of keratinophilic fungi on hairs of various animals has been briefly reviewed by numerous researchers in many parts of the world (Rees, 1967; Gugnani et al, 1975; Aho, 1980, 1983; Lopez-Martinez et al, 1984; Bagy and Abdel-Hafez, 1985; Bagy, 1986; Ali-Shtayeh et al, 1988a, b, 2000; Kubo et al, 1990; El-Said and Abdel-Hafez, 1995; El-Said, 1996, 2002; Rashid et al, 1996; Camin et al, 1998; Gugnani, 2000; Hubalek, 2000; Alghalibi, 2001; Moses and Sunday, 2001; Shukia et al, 2003; Periasamy et al, 2004; Dobrowolska et al, 2006; Ulfig, 2007; Thanaa et al, 2008 and others).…”

Dermatophytes and other keratinophilic fungi from coypus (Myocastor coypus) and brown rats (Rattus norvegicus)

“…Microsporum gypseum had the highest total frequency rate and was recovered from 18.6% of the rodents examined. It has been reported on the skin of animals including 2.1% of wild small rodents belonging to nine species (Gugnani et al 1975), 5.8% of marmots (Gallo et al 2005a), and 4.2% of eastern cottontails (Gallo et al 2005b). Trichophyton terrestre and Chrysosporium species were also isolated from brown rats and coypus in this study.…”

“…Trichophyton mentagrophytes has previously been reported from 11.2% of marmots and 7.4% of eastern cottontails in Italy (Gallo et al 2005a, b). Its frequent association with a range of wild small rodents has been observed in several countries, with prevalence rates ranging from 0.6% to 14.8% (Gugnani et al 1975;English and Bayley 1978). Rodents are regarded as the main reservoirs of the dermatophyte, which can occasionally cause skin lesions in them (Van Rooij et al 2006), included in furfarmed coypus (Wensel and Albert 1989;Alyassino et al 1990).…”

“…Wild rodents, especially rats, can act as important natural animal reservoirs of dermatophytes for humans and domestic animals; results of several reports have shown widespread and asymptomatic infections in these animals (Gugnani et al 1975;English and Bayley 1978;Okafor and Gugnani 1981). The term "asymptomatic" or "latent infection" means that the host does not display any apparent clinical symptoms of ringworm when infected.…”