Dermatophytoses in domesticated animals

Abstract

Dermatophytes are among the most frequent causes of ringworm infections in domesticated animals. They are known to serve as reservoirs of the zoophilic dermatophytes and these infections have important zoonotic implication. In Nigeria and probably West Africa, there are not many studies on the incidence of dermatophytosis in domesticated animals. In the current study, 538 domesticated animals with clinically suggestive lesions were investigated for dermatophytes. Identification of dermatophyte species was performed by macro- and micro morphological examination of colonies and by biochemical methods. In the cases of isolates that had atypical morphology and/or biochemical test results, the rDNA internal transcribed spacer region 2 (ITS 2) sequencing was performed. Out of this number, 214 (39.8%) were found to be colonized by a variety of ten species of dermatophytes. M. canis was the most frequently isolated species (37.4%), followed by T. mentagrophytes (22.9%) and T. verrucosum (15.9%). M. persicolor and T. gallinae were jointly the least species isolated with a frequency of 0.55% respectively. The recovery of dermatophyte isolates previously shown to be common etiological agents of dermatophytosis especially from children in the same region suggests that animal to human transmission may be common. Possible implications and recommendations are discussed.