Dermatophytes in animals and their zoonotic importance in Suez Canal area

Abstract EN

In a survey on dermatophytes among farm and pet animals in Suez Canal Area.

T.

verrucosum was the main etiological agent isolated from clinically diagnosed cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats and horses with ringworm lesions at rates of 75 %, 50 %, 71.4 %, 65 % and 25 %, respectively.

While, M.

canis was the only dermatophyte species isolated from clinically affected dogs and cats at a rate of 41.7 % and 56.7 %, respectively.

Dermatophyte infections among the examined animals reached its peak obviously during autumn and winter months and the lowest rates were in summer and spring months.

Young aged animals are more susceptible for dermatophytic infection than older ones.

On the other hand, out of 142 apparently healthy animals examined, dermatophytes were isolated from only 10 (7.04 %) animals.

The isolated dermatophytes of the apparently healthy animals were T.

mentagrophytes var.

mentagrophytes that was isolated from cattle, sheep and goat (4 % of each animal species), T.

verrucosum from cattle (8 %) and M.

gypsum (15 %) and M.

canis (10 %) of the examined cats.

While, the apparently healthy buffaloes, horses, donkeys and dogs were culturally negative for dermatophytes.

These findings reassured that these animals act as an important source and reservoir of human infections with derm-atophytes and reflecting the danger of contact with these animals because these agents are more inflammatory and causing sever disease than the anthropophagic one.