Fungal Flora in Asymptomatic Pet Guinea Pigs and Rabbits.

Fungal skin diseases are well-recognized diseases with public health implications. The study provides a comprehensive overview and aims to determine the rate of positive fungal cultures to identify the most common fungal species in guinea pigs and rabbits and to determine the rate of asymptomatic carriers in healthy pet animals. This knowledge is essential for understanding disease transmission dynamics and epidemiological situation problems. A total of 167 animals (64 rabbits and 103 guinea pigs) were investigated in this study. The fungi of the genus Penicillium, Rhizopus, Mucor, Cladosporium, and Aspergillus were the most common in the examined animals, and they were isolated from 162 (97%) of the animals enrolled. No fungal growth was observed in 5 animals. In 15 cases (8.98%), we found pathogenic zoonotic dermatophytes (Trichophyton mentagrophytes), which caused several health problems in two humans in contact with affected animals. This study presents the prevalence of fungal flora in pet guinea pigs and rabbits in Slovakia.

Clinical and Hematologic Findings in Babesia canis Infection in Eastern Slovakia.

PURPOSE: Babesia canis infection occurs in many locations throughout Europe. However, various studies report different clinicopathological findings in affected dogs. This study was focused on changes in clinical and hematologic parameters in dogs with B. canis infection from eastern Slovakia. METHODS: The study was prospective and included 45 dogs with suspected babesiosis. Babesia canis infection was confirmed by PCR in 34 cases and by blood smear microscopy in 24 (70.6%) of them. Hematology results, clinical examination from these dogs, and possible co-infection with other tick-borne pathogens by PCR were subsequently evaluated. RESULTS: The major clinical signs found included lethargy (91%), fever (59%), anorexia (59%), pigmenturia (47%) and icterus (18%). Mortality rate was 6%. Thrombocytopenia was the most common hematologic change, observed in 100% of the dogs with B. canis infection. Other frequent findings were lymphopenia (82%) and anemia (68%). No co-infections were detected. Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection was diagnosed by PCR only in one dog, which was not infected with B. canis. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that B. canis infection in eastern Slovakia should be diagnosed by PCR when there is clinical suspicion of the disease, as almost 30% of the infected sick dogs did not have demonstrable parasites in their blood smear by microscopy. Lymphopenia is a frequent hematologic finding in B. canis infection and observed even more often than anemia. However, in agreement with previous studies, thrombocytopenia remains the most common hematologic finding associated with B. canis infection.

Removal of foreign bodies from the proventriculus in a young golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos).

This paper presents a clinical case report of a golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) with foreign bodies (stones) in its proventriculus. The case deals with the identification, management and removal of foreign objects identified in the gastrointestinal tract. A surgical removal by proventriculotomy under general anaesthesia was attempted. The surgery and the recovery were uneventful, and the follow-up after six months revealed no complications. To the best of our knowledge, there are no other reports of successful foreign body removal by proventriculotomy in the golden eagle.