Medycyna Wet. 66 (9), 604-608, 2010
| Kania B.F., Juniak M. |
| Animal dermatophilosis - etiopathogenesis and therapy |
| Dermatophilosis in an animal skin disease, which is an exudative, acute or chronic epidermitis with scab formation. It is caused by an aerobic bacterium called Dermatophilus congolensis, a Gram-positive actinomycete. Numerous cases of dermatophilosis were reported primarily in countries with a warm and humid climate: Zimbabwe, Ghana, Tunisian, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Egypt, Zaire, Israel, New Zeland, Turkey, Iran, Australia as well as in Poland, Slovenia, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Canada and the USA. The most susceptible animals include cattle, ewes, sheep, goats, horses, pigs, dogs, cats, camels, buffaloes, donkeys and other wild animals. Occasionally the disease affects people. Some strains have also been observed to attack reptiles (D. chelonae and D. crocodyli). In mammals the disease tends to occur seasonally in the moist season. Moisture favors the mobility of zoospores and their morphological transformation to vegetative forms (filaments). These forms penetrate into deeper strata of epidermis, where they create a ramate structure resembling mycelium. The vectors of the germ are blood-eating insects and rodent worms as well as animals which are its asymptomatic carriers. The diagnosis consists in identifying characteristic skin changes and confirming the presence of the germ through microbiological examination. Preventive measures include above all the reduction of moisture in the environment of animals and the use of insecticides. The recovery from acute dermatophilosis is usually spontaneous. Chronic cases require the use of locally acting drugs and antibiotics. |
| Key words: dermatophilosis, Dermatophilus congolensis, etiology, clinical aspects |