Protothecosis by Prototheca wickerhamii in goats

Abstract

This article reports a new case of protothecosis by Prototheca wickerhamii in goats. The animal presented severe respiratory difficulty and nodules, sometimes ulcerated, in the nasal vestibule, mucocutaneous junction of the nostrils and skin of the face. Prototheca wickerhamii was isolated from the lesions. The animal had no clinical or haematologiccl evidence of immunodepression. The agent was highly resistant to antimicrobial drugs. The goat was treated unsuccessfully with fluconazole and euthanised 10 months after the diagnosis of the disease. Histological lesions were necrotising pyogranulomatous dermatitis, rhinitis and osteomyelitis with myriads of walled sporangia characteristic of P. wickerhamii. It is suggested that in goats, protothecosis is characterised by a chronic, slowly progressive infection, which affects immunologically competent goats, causing multifocal, ulcerative, pyogranulomatous and necrotising lesions of the mucosa of the nasal vestibule, mucocutaneous junctions of the nostrils and skin of the face.

Doenças da cavidade nasal em ruminantes no Brasil

“…No HV foram diagnosticados dois casos de prototecose nasal em caprinos que foram descritos por Macêdo et al (2008a) e Camboim et al (2010b. A Prototecose caracteriza-se por ser uma doença crônica, lentamente progressiva, que afeta caprinos imunologicamente competente causando lesões multifocais ulcerativas, piogranulomatosas e necrotizantes na mucosa e junção mucocutânea das narinas e pele da face (Camboim et al 2010ª,b).…”

Isolation of infectious microalga Prototheca wickerhamii from a carp (Cyprinus carpio) – a first confirmed case report of protothecosis in a fish

“…; Camboim et al . ). The list of animal species in which Prototheca infection has been detected includes a deer (Frese & Gedek ), a beaver (Sileo & Palmer ), a fruit bat (Mettler ), a snake (Crispens & Marion ), a fish (Smith ) and horses (Schöniger et al .…”

Successful treatment of multifocal pedal Prototheca wickerhamii infection in a feline immunodeficiency virus-positive cat with multiple Bowenoid in situ carcinomas containing papillomaviral DNA sequences

“…Protothecosis in other domestic animal species is uncommon. 5,6 It is most often recorded in dogs as a disseminated infection following primary infection of the colon (often secondary to a predisposing condition such as granulomatous colitis due to adherent invasive Escherichia coli in Boxer dogs and French Bulldogs) 7–9 and generally carries a poor prognosis, unless infections are detected while the infection is restricted to the colon, prior to haematogenous dissemination. 10 …”