Fungal Flora in Asymptomatic Pet Guinea Pigs and Rabbits

Abstract

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.