Fungal isolation and identification from parrot excreta in northeast Iran: A threat to human health.

BACKGROUND: One of the environmental sources of pathogenic fungi is parrot droppings. OBJECTIVES: Thus, this work aimed to investigate fungal contamination in parrots' droppings. METHODS: Seventy-nine parrot droppings including Cockatiel, Cockatoo, Green check conure, Love bird, Budgerigar, African grey parrot, Alexandrine parakeet, Amazon parrot, Yellow crown parakeet, and Macaw were sampled, and suspended 1:10 in saline solution and then 0.5 mL of supernatant was cultured. The fungi were identified by standard mycological techniques. RESULTS: Fungal contamination was detected in 66 samples (83.54%) out of 79 samples. Yeast and mould fungi were respectively isolated from 44 samples (55.69%) and 36 samples (45.56%) out of 79 samples. Overall 105 fungal isolates were isolated from parrot excreta. Cryptococcus neoformans (17.14%), Rhizopus spp. (10.47%), Rhodotorula spp. and Aspergillus niger (6.66%), and Penicillium spp. (5.71%) were the most fungi isolated from faecal samples. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence from this study suggests that the rate of fungal contamination in parrots' excreta was high. Keeping parrots in the house and their close contact with humans can double the importance of these contaminations and provide the basis for the transmission of contamination to humans. Therefore, the accumulations of parrot faeces for long periods suggest a potential threat to public health.

Molecular diagnosis of dermatophyte isolates from canine and feline dermatophytosis in Northeast Iran.

BACKGROUND: Dermatophytes are the most common causes of cutaneous fungal diseases. Dermatophytosis is a common skin disorder in dogs and cats. Species identification of these fungi is important from a therapeutic and epidemiological aspect. Conventional methods used to identify dermatophyte species are often lengthy and may be inefficient in many circumstances. Recently broad varieties of several molecular DNA-based techniques were successfully utilised for species detection of dermatophytes. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the molecular detection of dermatophyte isolates from canine and feline dermatophytosis in Mashhad, Iran. METHODS: Thirty dermatophytes isolated from dogs and cats with skin lesions and one standard strain of Microsporum canis were cultured onto Mycosel agar, and then internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal DNA was amplified using the universal fungal primers ITS1 and ITS4. PCR products were subjected to sequencing and sequence analysis. RESULTS: Based on the sequencing of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region on all samples, all the studied strains were M. canis and their sexual stage (teleomorph) was Arthroderma otae. CONCLUSIONS: Microsporum canis was the only species found among dogs and cats, and its high prevalence can increase the rate of transmission to humans. In practice, ITS-PCR, with sequence analysis, is a useful and reliable method to identify and differentiate various pathogenic species, and it can be used in clinical and epidemiological fields, even for the rapid diagnosis of dermatophyte species that are closely interrelated.

High Prevalence of Cryptococcus neoformans and Isolation of Other Opportunistic Fungi From Pigeon (Columba livia) Droppings in Northeast Iran.

Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic human pathogen that causes cryptococcosis, a life-threatening infection that usually manifests as meningoencephalitis in immunocompromised patients. Pigeon (Columba livia) droppings can spread pathogenic yeasts and mold fungi, such as C neoformans, in the environment. The objective of this study was to isolate C neoformans and other opportunistic fungi from feral pigeon droppings. One hundred twenty samples of feral pigeon droppings were suspended 1:10 in saline solution and then cultured. The fungi were identified by standard mycological techniques. Fungal contamination was detected in all examined samples. Yeast and mold fungi were isolated from 114 samples (95%) and 103 samples (85.8%), respectively, out of 120 samples. The highest frequency of yeast and mold fungi isolated from collected samples was C neoformans 77.5% and Rhizopus species 38.3%, respectively. Several types of fungi exist in pigeon droppings that can be spread in the environment and transmitted to children and elderly, as well as immunocompromised patients who are at increased risk of contracting opportunistic diseases.

In vitro activities of 15 antifungal drugs against a large collection of clinical isolates of Microsporum canis.

BACKGROUND: Microsporum canis is a zoophilic species, found to be the most frequently isolated species in animals. M. canis causes sporadic outbreaks of infections in humans, such as the one that occurred in Canada, where more than 1000 human cases were detected over an 8-year period. Despite the medical importance of M. canis infections, there are limited in vitro data on the antifungal susceptibility to antifungal drugs, including new generation triazoles and imidazoles. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study was to comprehensively evaluate the in vitro activity of new azoles and comparator drugs against a large panel of M. canis isolates using a microdilution assay. METHODS: The in vitro susceptibility to novel triazoles and imidazoles was compared to that of other antifungal drugs using a large collection of M. canis clinical isolates (n = 208) obtained from patients and animals with dermatophytosis in Iran, France and Turkey. RESULTS: All isolates exhibited high susceptibility to the majority of the tested antifungal agents. However, luliconazole, lanoconazole and efinaconazole, as well as econazole, demonstrated superior activity against all strains in comparis on with the other drugs. CONCLUSION: FDA-approved antifungal drugs, that is luliconazole, efinaconazole and lanoconazole, showed the highest antifungal activity and should be promising candidates for the treatment of dermatophytosis caused by M canis. However, their therapeutic effectiveness remains to be determined in clinical settings.