Prevalence and characterization ofMicrosporum caniscarriage in cats

Abstract

In order to determine the prevalence and to characterize the carriage of Microsporum canis in cats, different mycological examinations (including a culture obtained by hair brushing and Wood's light examination) were performed on 632 animals of different origins. Group 1 comprised 467 healthy pet cats belonging to veterinary students. In this group, prevalence of carriage was 2.1%: eight cats were asymptomatic transient carriers and one cat was an asymptomatic infected animal presenting discrete Wood's-positive lesions disseminated on the whole body that were visible after sedation and clipping. The carriage prevalence was higher (15.7%) in group 2 comprising 134 European cats destroyed in a pound and kept together. In two additional groups of cats, it was shown that an infected cat was responsible for the dissemination of fungal material into its environment including the other in-contact animals. When the active source of fungus was removed, the dissemination stopped, resulting in a decrease in the amount of infective material recovered from both the animal carriers and the environmental surfaces. This was also observed in two experimental groups of guinea pigs. No association between feline immunodeficiency virus infection and the M. canis carriage was observed in a retrospective case-control study performed on group 2. None of these cats was feline leukaemia virus positive.

Humoral and cellular immune response to a crude exo-antigen and purified keratinase ofMicrosporum canisin experimentally infected guinea pigs

“…The keratinase is at least hypoimmunosensitizing, at most actively antagonistic to immune processes. This could be a factor involved in the establishment and persistence of the fungus, as observed sometimes, especially in asymptomatic infected cats [11]. Indeed, asymptomatic cats display a histopathological pattern of chronic infection [7].…”

“…canis infection in cats [11,7]. In order to better understand the host-parasite relationship, it seems therefore particularly interesting to study the specific immune response raised in infected cats against purified and characterized antigens.…”

Assessment of immunogenicity and protective efficacy of Microsporum canis secreted components coupled to monophosphoryl lipid-A adjuvant in a vaccine study using guinea pigs

“…It is the main agent of dermatophytosis in cat, its natural host (Mignon and Losson, 1997), and is responsible for a frequent zoonosis (Seebacher et al, 2008). Successful treatment of M. canis dermatophytosis includes the use of systemic and topical antifungal agents for at least five weeks, confinement of the infected pet until cured and environmental decontamination.…”

Evaluation of cats (Felis catus) as possible asymptomatic carriers of dermatophytes in extreme south of Brazil

“…Gambale et al [8] and Mignon and Losson [9] claimed that contacts with other cats that have greater access to the street and environments inhabited by humans were proportional to the presence of dermatophytosis. However, all groups, matching with these situations, surveyed in this study were negative for dermatophytes.…”