The fungus among us: an update on systemic fungi

摘要

The most important fungal infections of dogs and cats are aspergillosis, blastomycosis, cryptococcosis, histoplasmosis and coccidioidomycosis. All of these infections are acquired from the environment and are not transmitted from animals to people. The only exception is possible inoculation of organisms through biting. Blastomyces, Coccidioidomyces and Histoplasma organisms require very specific soil conditions for growth and are restricted to specific geographic area. Aspergillus sp. and Cryptococcus sp. are found throughout the world but cryptococcosis is more common in southern California than other areas of the USA. Aspergillosis appears to be an opportunistic organism. Some animals develop aspergillosis of the nose after an injury suggesting a preexisting lesions that becomes infected. Cryptococcosis occurs more frequently in feline leukemia virus or feline immunodeficiency virus infected cats suggesting that immunosuppression predisposes the cats to crytococcosis. Coccidioidomycosis will not be discussed in these seminars.