Survey on Dermatophytes Isolated from Animals in Switzerland in the Context of the Prevention of Zoonotic Dermatophytosis.
J Fungi (Basel)
; 9(2)2023 Feb 14.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36836366
ABSTRACT
Most inflammatory dermatophytoses in humans are caused by zoophilic and geophilic dermatophytes. Knowledge of the epidemiology of these fungi in animals facilitates the prevention of dermatophytosis of animal origin in humans. We studied the prevalence of dermatophyte species in domestic animals in Switzerland and examined the effectiveness of direct mycological examination (DME) for their detection compared to mycological cultures. In total, 3515 hair and skin samples, collected between 2008 and 2022 by practicing veterinarians, were subjected to direct fluorescence microscopy and fungal culture. Overall, 611 dermatophytes were isolated, of which 547 (89.5%) were from DME-positive samples. Cats and dogs were the main reservoirs of Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Microsporum canis, whereas Trichophyton benhamiae was predominantly found in guinea pigs. Cultures with M. canis significantly (p < 0.001) outnumbered those with T. mentagrophytes in DME-negative samples (19.3% versus 6.8%), possibly because M. canis can be asymptomatic in cats and dogs, unlike T. mentagrophytes, which is always infectious. Our data confirm DME as a reliable, quick, and easy method to identify the presence of dermatophytes in animals. A positive DME in an animal hair or skin sample should alert people in contact with the animal to the risk of contracting dermatophytosis.
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1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Tipo de estudo:
Risk_factors_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Fungi (Basel)
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Suíça