Association of toxin-producing fungi with disease in broilers

An episode of suboptimal growth, poor feathering and behavioural abnormalities in broilers in Scotland during the winter of 1980-81 is described. This was considered to be associated with mould-contaminated maize and wheat components of the feed, from which fusaria were isolated in persistently high numbers. Four species, Fusarium culmorum, F tricinctum, F nivale and F moniliforme, were identified. Chloroform extracts of the raw materials and of an artificial medium in which three of the Fusarium species were cultured proved toxic to tissue cultures of a human epithelial cell line (HEp II). Specific identification by thin layer chromatography of the mycotoxins deoxynivalenol, zearalenone and diacetoxyscirpenol was achieved in some extracts. In addition, several other areas of the chromatograms were found to be toxic in the HEp II cell system and these may contain toxins for which standards were not available or, alternatively, previously uncharacterised fungal metabolites. It was concluded that the toxins produced by the fusaria were major contributing factors to the disease symptoms shown by the birds.     

紫花苜蓿镰刀菌根腐病研究进展

紫花苜蓿(简称苜蓿)是我国和世界种植面积最大最重要的豆科牧草。由镰刀菌引起的根腐病(称为镰刀菌根腐病)是苜蓿生产上的主要限制因素之一,严重影响该牧草的产量和品质,导致草地衰败和利用年限缩短。镰刀菌作为一类重要的土传病原真菌,一直是苜蓿根腐病研究的热点。由于镰刀菌能在土壤中长期存活,且苜蓿为多年生牧草,导致苜蓿根腐病的防治尤为困难。从苜蓿镰刀菌根腐病的分布与危害、病原种类与生物学特性、侵染源及发病规律、镰刀菌对苜蓿的致病性及致病机理、苜蓿品种对镰刀菌的抗病性以及防治方法等方面阐述苜蓿镰刀菌根腐病的研究进展,并对今后的研究方向进行了展望,以期为苜蓿镰刀菌根腐病后续研究及其防治新方法的开发利用提供理论依据。     

An interesting neurologic case in a lovebird (Agapornis fisheri).

The pathogenic agent of proventricular dilatation disease causes a lymphoplasmacytic inflammation of the central peripheral nervous systems. Usually, the splanchnic nerves are affected, with resultant gastrointestinal dysfunction and clinical signs related to this. When the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves are affected, neurologic signs may be present in various degrees. This case emphasizes the importance of necropsy and histopathologic examination in making a diagnosis and treatment.     

Surgical removal of an abscess associated with Fusarium solani from a Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii)

A cold-stunned Kemp's ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys kempii, developed an abscess associated with Fusarium solani, Vibrio alginolyticus, and a Shewenalla species after receiving a bite wound to the front flipper during rehabilitation. The lesion failed to respond to medical therapy and was treated successfully with surgery. Histopathology of the excised tissue demonstrated septic heterophilic inflammation with necrosis and granulation tissue, fungal elements, and bacteria, despite appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Variably thick bands of dense collagenous tissue partially surrounded affected areas which might have limited drug penetration into the tissue. Postoperative healing and eventual releases were uneventful. This is the first report of surgical treatment of cutaneous Fusarium infection in a sea turtle and supports surgery as an effective treatment for a fungal abscess in a reptile.     

Candida parapsilosis complex infection in a cutaneous lesion from a dog: Spotlight on an opportunistic pathogen of potential increasing importance

Fine-needle aspirates from a 1.5-cm cutaneous mass in a Cocker Spaniel were submitted for cytologic examination. Marked pyogranulomatous inflammation and fungal organisms were present, identified as Candida parapsilosis complex by MALDI-ToF following fungal culture. The fungal infection was considered secondary or an incidental finding, following the diagnosis of a benign keratinizing lesion by histopathologic examination of the excised mass. This case is presented to increase awareness and describe the cytologic features of a potential pathogen, which is of increasing importance in human medicine but has a limited presence in the veterinary literature despite the potential for a similar significance.     

Paramyxovirus infection in pigs with interstitial pneumonia and encephalitis in the United States.

In the last few years, newly recognized paramyxoviruses have been associated with severe disease in several animal species, including swine, as well as in human beings. Recently, a paramyxovirus was isolated from a swine herd in the northcentral United States that experienced an epizootic of respiratory and central nervous system disease. Affected pigs had interstitial pneumonia with necrotizing bronchiolitis and encephalitis characterized by lymphocytic perivasculitis and diffuse gliosis. Germ-free pigs inoculated with this isolate developed mild clinical illness and similar but less severe histopathologic lesions in lungs and brain.     

Isolation of Cokeromyces recurvatus, initially misidentified as Coccidioides immitis, from peritoneal fluid in a cat with jejunal perforation.

Cokeromyces recurvatus, a zygomycete, was isolated by fungal culture from the peritoneal fluid of a cat with jejunal perforation secondary to intestinal lymphosarcoma. This organism has not been recovered previously from a veterinary patient. The tissue form of C. recurvatus is morphologically similar to those of Coccidioides immitis and Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and may be misdiagnosed as 1 of these organisms on the basis of cytologic or histopathologic specimens, particularly in geographic regions where these organisms are not endemic.     

VERTEBRAL TUMORS IN THE DOG: A CLINICAL RADIOLOGIC, AND PATHOLOGIC STUDY OF 61 PRIMARY AND SECONDARY LESIONS

The clinical, radiographic, and histopathologic features of 26 primary and 35 secondary vertebral tumors of the dog with varying periods of clinical signs, possibly influenced by their being referred dogs, are presented. Pain without neurologic signs was the predominant initial sign with both primary and secondary tumors. However, by the time of hospital admission, most dogs had neurologic deficits. The time from pain onset to neurologic deficit ranged from two days to nine months. German Shepherd Dogs, Standard Poodles, and Labrador Retrievers were heavily represented; the average age was 7 years and there was a slight predominance of male dogs. Both primary and secondary tumors showed a destructive pattern, often with cortical destruction and adjacent disc space collapse. An associated paravertebral soft tissue mass was frequently present in the secondary tumors, 13 of 35 being secondary to intrapelvic tumors. Osteosarcomas were the most common primary tumor; the secondary tumor cell type varied. Most dogs were euthanized immediately upon histopathologic confirmation of the disease.     

Meningoencephalitis tuberculosa in a holstein cow

The gross and histopathologic lesions of meningoencephalitis tuberculosa in a 4-year-old Holstein cow showing clinical signs compatible with bovine spongiform encephalopathy are described in this report. Grossly, numerous gray to yellow, firm and caseous nodules were seen on the ventral surfaces of the brain and in the lateral and fourth ventricles. Histopathologically, foci of caseation and dystrophic mineralization were surrounded by multinucleated giant cells, epitheloid macrophages, plasma cells, lymphocytes and fibrous proliferation. Ziehl-Neelsen stains of the lesions revealed masses of slender acid-fast bacilli in the necrotic centers of lesions and within surrounding giant cells.     

郑州地区3种冷季型草坪草根部入侵真菌鉴定

研究不同草坪草根部入侵真菌的种类对草坪病害鉴定与防治具有重要意义。本试验以河南省郑州市内8个公共草坪上的3种冷季型草坪草高羊茅(Festuca arundinacea),草地早熟禾(Poa pratensis)和多年生黑麦草(Lolium perenne)为研究材料,于2013年春季,在8个混播草坪上采用"Z"字形法随机进行根部取样,每种草在各采样地内分别取12株根样,并在实验室内分离鉴定其根部入侵真菌种类。结果表明:从288株根样中共分离到13种真菌,其中6种真菌为3种草根部共同的入侵真菌,包括:细交链孢(Alternaria alternata)、尖孢镰孢(Fusarium oxysporum)、柱孢(Cylindrocarpon destructuns)、枝孢(Cladosporium herbarum)、多隔镰孢(F.decemcellulare)、德氏霉(Drechslera sp.)。郑州地区冷季型草坪草根部入侵的主要病原真菌是细交链孢、尖孢镰孢和枝孢,不同地点和草种根部主要的入侵真菌种类有明显的不同,根部带菌率最高的是多年生黑麦草。     

Primary Aspergillus and Fusarium keratitis in a Holstein cow

A 5-year-old female Holstein cow was examined for ocular discharge, periorbital swelling, an area of full-thickness corneal cellular infiltrate, fibrin, hypopyon, diffuse corneal edema, and miosis. The patient was diagnosed with a corneal stromal abscess and secondary anterior uveitis. Histopathology, mycotic culture, and polymerase chain reaction positive for Aspergillus and Fusarium DNA confirmed the presence of fungal infection. Response to therapy was adequate, and follow-up with the patient 1 year after diagnosis revealed a focal area of corneal fibrosis.     

Leukoencephalitis associated with selective viral replication in the brain of a pony with experimental chronic equine infectious anemia virus infection

Neurologic disease occurs sporadically in horses infected with the equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV). This report describes a case of clinically severe neurologic disease in a pony experimentally infected with EIAV. This pony did not have fever or anemia, which are the characteristic clinical signs of disease. The histopathologic changes were characterized as lymphohistiocytic periventricular leukoencephalitis. Polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization data showed that the brain lesions were directly associated with viral replication and that high-level viral replication occurred selectively within the lesion and not in other tissues. These findings suggest that EIAV-associated neurologic disease is the direct result of viral replication.     

广西猕猴桃果实病害病原菌的分离与鉴定

为了弄清广西各猕猴桃产区猕猴桃果实病害的病原菌种类,作者于2021年8-9月采果期收集了广西壮族自治区桂林市、河池市、百色市、贺州市及宜州市等5个市15个猕猴桃主产县38个代表性果园的成熟果实进行病果的病原菌的分离与鉴定。共计分离获得174份真菌材料和5份细菌材料,分别使用鉴定真菌的通用引物ITS1/ITS4和鉴定细菌的通用引物27F /1429R做PCR 扩增。将序列在NCBI数据库中进行Blast比对,确定菌株的分类地位。结果发现15个主产县猕猴桃果实病害的病原真菌主要有葡萄座腔菌科的2个属Botryosphaeria和Neofusicoccum、二孢菌属(Lasiodiplodia)、间座壳菌属(Diaporthe)、枝孢菌属(Cladosporium)、 镰刀菌(Fusarium)、炭疽菌属(Colletotrichum) 、毛霉属(Mucor)和类拟盘多毛孢属(Neopestalotiopsis),其中葡萄座腔菌属、间座壳菌属、二孢菌属和Neofusicoccum为主要真菌,分别占获得真菌材料总份数的47.70%,29.89%,9.20%和6.90%,毛霉属和类拟盘多毛孢属为猕猴桃果实病原菌系首次报道。病原细菌种类有葡萄杆菌(Gluconobacter)、Atlantibacter 和泛菌属(Pantoea),这3个属的细菌在猕猴桃果实病原细菌相关报道中均未见报道。鉴定结果初步锁定了广西猕猴桃果实病害病原菌种类,可为猕猴桃果实病害的预测及综合防治提供理论依据。     

苜蓿根腐病病原菌的分离及鉴定

从甘肃张掖、酒泉2市采集苜蓿Medicago sativa根腐病样品15份,按照柯赫证病律对其进行病原物分离、鉴定.结果表明：发病部位分离到的菌株以镰孢霉Fusarium spp.占优势,经致病性测定和接种试验证明,腐皮镰孢霉F.solani致病性最强,接种后病株率达60%以上;其次是尖孢镰孢霉F.oxysporum和串珠镰孢霉F.moniliforme,致病性弱,发病株率为16.7%～23.3%;腐皮镰孢霉与尖孢镰孢霉或串珠镰霉混合接种,发病率均高于单独接种的发病率,而病株上获得的其他分离物均无致病性.研究证明苜蓿根腐病是以腐皮镰孢霉为主要病原,并与尖孢镰孢霉和串珠镰孢霉复合侵染导致的一种病害.     

Primary and secondary tumours occurring simultaneously in the brain of a dog

Primary brain tumours of a single histological type and metastatic brain tumours are well described in dogs in the current veterinary literature. However, the concurrent presence of a primary and secondary tumour in the brain of a dog has never, to the authors' knowledge, been previously reported. The clinical and pathological features of a nine-year-old, female boxer with an oligodendroglioma and metastases from a mammary gland adenocarcinoma occurring simultaneously in the brain are described in this case report. Information in the veterinary literature on multiple malignancies affecting the central nervous system is very limited; therefore, a discussion about comparative situations in human medicine has been included.     

First description of onychomycosis caused by Chrysosporium keratinophilum in captive Bennett's wallabies (Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus)

Seven Bennett's wallabies (Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus) presented within a period of several months with onychodystrophy, onychomadesis, and severe digital tumefaction. Histopathologic findings included a pseudocarcinomatous hyperplasia of the claw matrix surrounding a cavity filled with keratin and septate hyphae stained with periodic acid Schiff reagent. The fungal species Chrysosporium keratinophilum was identified on cultures. The wallabies were orally treated with ketoconazole (15 mg/kg s.i.d.) for 20 wk. Material and enclosures were cleaned and sprayed with 0.2% enilconazole solution once a month over a period of 4 mo. No improvement of advanced cases was observed, but no new case appeared for the next 6 mo. The positive mycological culture and the invasion of tissues on histopathologic examination suggested that the fungal species C. keratinophilum was implicated in this claw disease. This is the first report of onychomycosis caused by C. keratinophilum in animals.     

Temporary remission of disseminated paecilomycosis in a German shepherd dog treated with ketoconazole

Disseminated mycosis caused by Paecilomyces varioti in a female German shepherd dog presented with chronic forelimb lameness is described. Radiographs of the swollen carpal joint revealed geographic lysis of the radial epiphysis. Diagnosis was based on cytological demonstration of fungal hyphae and chlamydiospores, as well as fungal culture of fluid obtained by arthrocentesis. Temporary remission was characterised by markedly improved clinical signs and laboratory parameters, following treatment with ketoconazole. The dog was euthanased 9 months after the initial diagnosis, following the diagnosis of multifocal discospondylitis. This appears to be the longest described period of temporary remission obtained with treatment in dogs with paecilomycosis. Clinical, clinicopathological and necropsy findings of this disease in another German shepherd dog are briefly described.     

镰刀菌毒素对动物毒性作用的研究进展

镰刀菌是污染粮食和饲料的主要真菌菌属之一,可产生多种高毒性、低分子量的代谢产物,如玉米赤霉烯酮、脱氧雪腐镰刀菌烯醇、T-2毒素等,这些毒素严重威胁动物和人类的健康。摄入镰刀菌毒素可对动物造成多种毒性作用,包括生殖毒性、免疫毒性、肠道毒性、肝肾毒性、细胞毒性及致癌性等。不同类型镰刀菌毒素引起的毒性作用不尽一致,且不同毒素间存在互作效应。为此,本文对单一或混合镰刀菌毒素毒性的研究进展进行了总结和归纳,为镰刀菌毒素的深入研究提供参考和借鉴。     

Fungal diseases of fish.

Fungal diseases of fish have become increasingly important over the past 20 years. The traditional "fungi" are comprised of members from several different taxonomic kingdoms. Saprolegnia and other typical water molds are the "classic" secondary invaders, infecting more superficial areas of the body and requiring compromise of the exterior of the fish, poor water quality, or general immunosuppression. An increasing number of other environmental fungi are being reported from diseased fish, further testament to the opportunistic nature of many fungi. Common procedures such as air bladder deflation for many marine species collected at depth under nonsterile conditions may result in fungal infections of the swim bladder. Some fungi such as Aphanomyces and Fusarium can cause more invasive or systemic disease, often associated with changes in environmental factors such as temperature and salinity. Other fungi such as I. hoferi can be even more insidious and chronic, mimicking mycobacteriosis to a degree. Fungal diseases, in general, are very difficult to control or treat once they have taken hold. Prevention is, as always, the best medicine. Increased knowledge of basic biology will help guide treatment and control methods. Further research on general predisposing factors, species susceptibilities, immune system effects and other protective mechanisms in fish and more effective chemotherapeutics for external and systemic infections are needed.     

Oronasal blastomycosis in a golden retriever

Blastomycosis is one of the most common systemic fungal infections in dogs in North America Pulmonary manifestations are most common; localized disease is rare. A case of localized oronasal blastomycosis mimicking oral neoplasia is described. Long-term therapy with itraconazole resulted in clinical cure.