Severe dermatophytosis due to Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. interdigitale in flocks of green iguanas (Iguana iguana)

Fatal Disseminated Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Infection in a Captive Green Iguana (Iguana iguana)

Infections with various bacteria, especially gram-negative aerobes, are a well-recognized problem in captive cold-blooded animals with immunocompromised health status, or in those kept under poor conditions. Pseudomonas is one of the most represented genera. Here, we present a case of fatal disseminated infection caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a captive green iguana kept at the “Pionirska dolina” Zoo in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. At necropsy, severe stomatitis, pneumonia, hepatitis and nephritis, accompanied with focally extensive dermatitis were observed. Histopathology revealed multifocal necrosis in various visceral organs. Culture and subsequent MALDI-TOF MS analysis were conducted to identify the isolate as P. aeruginosa. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed a wide susceptibility of the isolate, however applied therapy was instilled too late in the presented case. This case demonstrates the significance of timely and accurate identification, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacterial isolates implicated in the pathology of captive reptiles. The importance of monitoring the adequate environmental conditions (enclosure temperature, humidity and conformation), health status and possible clinical signs of illness are highlighted.

[Trichophyton mentagrophytes-from snow leopard to man : A molecular approach for uncovering the chain of infection]

Sources of infection for Trichophyton (T.) mentagrophytes-a zoophilic dermatophyte-comprise pet rodents (guinea pigs, mice, rabbits) and sometimes cats. Human infections due to dermatophytes after contact with zoo animals, however, are extreme rare. Four zoo keepers from Basel Zoo were diagnosed to suffer from tinea manus and tinea corporis due to T. mentagrophytes. The 22-year-old daughter of one zoo keeper was also infected with tinea corporis after having worked in the snow leopard section for one day. The strain of the index patient was confirmed by a direct uniplex-PCR-EIA and sequence analysis of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (18S rRNA, ITS1, 5.8S rRNA, ITS2, 28S rRNA) as T. mentagrophytes. Three young snow leopards from Basel Zoo were identified as the origin of the fungal skin infection. The transmission occurred due to direct contact of the zoo keepers with the young snow leopards when removing hedgehog ticks (Ixodes hexagonus). Two adult snow leopards had developed focal alopecia of the facial region which was diagnosed as dermatomycoses due to T. mentagrophytes by the zoo veterinarians. By sequence analysis, both the strains from the animals and a single strain of the index patient showed 100% accordance proving transmission of T. mentagrophytes from animals to the zoo keepers. Molecular biological identification revealed a strong relationship to a strain of T. mentagrophytes from European mink (Mustela lutreola) from Finland. Treatment of patients was started using topical ointment with azole antifungals, and oral terbinafine 250 mg once daily for 4 weeks. Both adult snow leopards and the asymptomatic young animals were treated with oral itraconazole.

Application of PCR fingerprinting using (GACA)4 primer in the rapid discrimination of dermatophytes

BACKGROUND

Superficial fungal infections have a major impact on cosmetic health, affecting more than 20-25% of the global population, which is predominantly caused by dermatophytes. As per literature search, molecular strain typing of dermatophytes has not been investigated in India. Therefore, the present study was carried out to characterise the dermatophyte species and strains by molecular methods.

OBJECTIVE

To analyse the genotype variability by applying polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fingerprinting using a simple sequence repetitive oligonucleotide (GACA)4 primer to identify the species and strain variations among the dermatophytes isolated from a tertiary care centre in Chennai.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

From January 2010 to December 2010, 81 dermatophytes were isolated and included for the present study. A simple sequence repetitive oligonucleotide (GACA)4 was used as a single primer in the amplification process.

RESULTS

The (GACA)4-based PCR successfully amplified all the clinical isolates. Trichophyton rubrum and T. rubrum var. raubitschekii produced identical band profiles, where the latter could not be differentiated from the T. rubrum, which are being reported for the first time from south India. Epidermophyton floccosum produced species-specific band profiles. Intra-species variability was not observed among the T. rubrum and E. floccosum isolates. T. mentagrophytes produced three simple, distinct band patterns, which are surprisingly different from the earlier studies.

CONCLUSION

The PCR-based genotype using the short primer is rapid and precise in direct identification of dermatophyte isolates by one-step PCR to the species level and strain discrimination of the T. mentagrophytes variants.

Multiorgan fungal infection caused by Microsporum canis in a green iguana (Iguana iguana)

Multiple organ invasion by keratinophilic fungi in the green iguana (Iguana iguana) has not been previously reported. In this case, a 1-yr-old female green iguana presented with a nodular, darkly discolored skin lesion surrounded by necrosis in the right ventral abdominal region. A cytologic examination of the fine needle aspiration of the lesion revealed an exuberant proliferation of fibroblasts, macrophages, and multinucleated cells along with frequent filamentous structures consistent with hyphal elements. The necropsy revealed diffuse infiltration of the liver, lung, and cardiac apex with white nodules. A histopathologic examination of the lesions also confirmed a fungal infection associated with granulomatous inflammation. Rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of the chitin synthase 1 gene was conducted for rapid direct detection, and inter-simple sequence repeat fingerprinting was conducted to classify the infectious origin. The PCR analysis definitively demonstrated representative Microsporum canis fungus. The present report is the first case of disseminated M. canis infection with multiorgan involvement in a green iguana.

Rapid detection for rabbit-derived dermatophytes using microsatellite-primed polymerase chain reaction

A method exhibiting high sensitivity, specificity and rapidity to detect pathogenic dermatophytes was developed using microsatellite-primed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in combination with a clustering method. The DNA fragments of Trichophyton mentagrophyton, Microsporum gypseum and Microsporum canis were amplified by using the primer (GACA)4 to detect the DNA polymorphism fingerprints. Twenty-one clinical strains identified as T. mentagrophyton, M. gypseum or M. canis by morphological methods were distinguished according to the differences of standard stains' bands combined with NTSYS-pc2.10 software. The results showed that there were obvious and direct differences in the bands of the three pathogenic dermatophytes, and the similarity of isolated strains and standard strains were above 90%, in line with the results of morphological identification. The method is more accurate, rapid and simple, which is meaningful for the clinical diagnosis and epidemic research of the dermatophytes.