Chalastospora gossypii in a Maine Coon cat: case report and literature review

Abstract

A 15-y-old castrated male Maine Coon cat was evaluated for an ulcerated soft tissue mass on the right hindlimb that had been observed for 4 mo and had grown rapidly. A 3 × 3 cm soft, raised, amorphous, and ulcerated subcutaneous mass was observed on the lateral right metatarsus. In-house cytology via fine-needle aspiration was nondiagnostic. Incisional biopsy of the mass and further staging was declined, and amputation was elected. The amputated limb was submitted for histopathology, which revealed severe chronic nodular granulomatous dermatitis and multifocal granulomatous popliteal lymphadenitis with large numbers of intralesional fungal hyphae. Fungal PCR and sequencing on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue identified Chalastospora gossypii. No adjunctive therapy was elected at the time. The patient has done well clinically 1 y post-operatively. C. gossypii is a rare microfungus found worldwide and is considered a minor pathogen of several plants. To our knowledge, infection by this fungus has not been reported previously in veterinary species. Features in our case are comparable to other mycotic infections. Nodular granulomatous mycotic dermatitis and cellulitis, although uncommon, should be a differential for soft tissue masses in veterinary species; C. gossypii is a novel isolate.

Uncontrolled Post-Industrial Landfill—Source of Metals, Potential Toxic Compounds, Dust, and Pathogens in Environment—A Case Study

“…Some species of the genera, such as Cellulosimicrobium, Stenotrophomonas, Acinetobacter, Shewanellae, and Pseudomonas, have been isolated from clinical materials and are associated with human infections including pneumonia, respiratory distress, meningitis, endocarditis, otitis, bacteremia, soft tissue infection, endophthalmitis, septic arthritis, sepsis, wound sepsis, urinary tract infection, and prosthetic joint infections [39,40,47,48,56]. Some of the identified fungi, namely Mycosphaerella, Eryspihe, Taphrina, Metarhizium, Chalastospora, and Ustilago, are known to be plant and animal pathogens [57][58][59].…”