Laboratory limits on dermatophyte diagnosis in rabbits with clinical lesions

• Author(s): Coelho, A.C ; Pinto, M.L ; Coelho, A.M ; Fontes, M.C ; Mourão, J.L ; Pinheiro V.M
• Date: 2011
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10348/2575
• Origin: Repositório da UTAD
• Subject(s): Dermatophytes; Rabbits; Diagnosis; Isolation
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

ermatophyte infection or ringworm is a superficial cutaneous infection with one or more of the fungal species of the keratinophilic genera Microsporum, Trichophyton, or Epidermophyton and is a zoonosis with a great impact on public health. Dermatophytes were identified from rabbit sample cultures submitted to mycological examination in the Laboratory of Microbiology of the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal. All samples were collected from suspected clinical cases. Dermatophytes were cultured from 4 of the 55 specimens (7.3%). The dermatophytes isolated were Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes (1.8%) and Microsporum gypseum (5.5%). Microscopic examination was negative in all specimens. In this work, Scopulariopsis spp., a contaminant mould, was identified in 13 specimens (23.6%). The proportion of positive samples in relation to the number of samples examined from cases suspected was very low. As all samples were collected from rabbits with compatible signs, we presume that the low prevalence of isolation was due to laboratory constraints on dermatophytes diagnosis.