Dermatophytosis due to Trichophyton verrucosum in a chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra)

Abstract

A 3-year-old male chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) shot during a harvest plan in Piedmont (Italy) presented periocular alopecic and thickened crusty lesions, some of which slightly red in colour. Hair still present was broken and easily removed. Direct microscopic examination of the pathological material collected by skin scraping led to the diagnosis of dermatophytosis, as the hair shafts appeared invaded by unstained spherical spores (arthroconidia). Fungal growth was obtained by culturing hair and crusts on thiamine/inositol enriched Sabouraud's medium at 37°C. The macro-and microscopic characteristics of the organism were typical of the dermatophyte Trichophyton verrucosum. Wild ruminants are rarely affected by dermatophytosis, whereas in cattle, sheep and goats, infection because of this dermatophyte is quite common. This seems to be the first case of infection by T. verrucosum in chamois.

Comparative assessment of regulated methods and PCR in the diagnosis of trichophytosis in veterinary mycology

“…Thus, in the diagnosis of dermatophytosis caused by T. verrucosum, the informative value of the cultural method was characterized by the following indicators: sensitivity—80.6%, specificity—79.1%, and diagnostic efficiency—80.1%, which turned out to be significantly lower than the corresponding values obtained by microscopic examination of 87.8%, 88.4%, and 87.9%. A possible explanation for this pattern is the complexity of cultivating T. verrucosum , which is consistent with the study by Peano et al . (2008) .…”

Trichophyton verrucosum infection in livestock in the Chitral district of Pakistan

“…Indeed, it is commonly known that the poor growth of T. verrucosum may represent a serious problem for its isolation and identification, especially due to the rapid development of a great variety of nonpathogenic molds that contaminate hair and crusts of large animals [3,7]. In our experience, T. verrucosum even grows slowly in culture media supplemented with thiamine and inositol, and sometimes the growth is barely appreciable after four weeks of incubation [36]. As mentioned, only the typical pattern of hair invasion by T. verrucosum was detected.…”

Antifungal activities of Astragalus verus Olivier. against Trichophyton verrucosum on in vitro and in vivo guinea pig model of dermatophytosis

“…10,11 Trichophyton verrucosum is one of the most important dermatophytes species that highly infect cattle, sheep, goats, horses, wildlife chamois and individuals and personnel involved with these animal production systems like dairy men, cattle farmers, slaughtermen, veterinary tutors and children who live on farms. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Dermatophytosis caused by T. verrucosum is also a major health problem in animals and man in various parts of Iran as well. [19][20][21] In this study, clinical isolates of T. verrucosum were selected as the infecting fungus because it is one of the major causative organism associated with bovine dermatophytosis in the Kermanshah province of Iran with high potential of zoonosis.…”

“…Zoophilic dermatophytes such as Microsporum canis, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and T. verrucosum are a group of closely related fungi that have the capacity to invade the keratinised tissues of humans and other animals to produce an infection, dermatophytosis, commonly referred to as ringworm 10,11 . Trichophyton verrucosum is one of the most important dermatophytes species that highly infect cattle, sheep, goats, horses, wildlife chamois and individuals and personnel involved with these animal production systems like dairy men, cattle farmers, slaughtermen, veterinary tutors and children who live on farms 12–18 . Dermatophytosis caused by T. verrucosum is also a major health problem in animals and man in various parts of Iran as well 19–21 .…”