Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Disseminated pythiosis in three horses.
- Journal:
- Veterinary microbiology
- Year:
- 2003
- Authors:
- Reis, Janildo Ludolf et al.
- Affiliation:
- Federal University of Lavras · Brazil
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
Three horses were found to have a serious infection called pythiosis, which started in their skin and spread to their internal organs. The horses had noticeable skin lesions on their mammary glands, nostrils, and legs. Tests on the infected tissues showed a strong immune response, and specific tests confirmed the presence of the Pythium insidiosum organism. In one horse, genetic testing showed that the infection was identical to other samples stored in a database. This study is the first to confirm that this infection can spread from the skin to deeper parts of the body.
Abstract
Three cases of equine subcutaneous pythiosis with dissemination to the internal organs were investigated. The subcutaneous lesions were observed on the mammary gland, nostrils and limbs of the infected horses. Histopathological analysis of the infected tissues revealed a strong eosinophilic reaction, with macrophages, mast cells and giant cells. Sparsely septated hyphal filaments of 4-6 microm diameter were identified in the center of the eosinophilic areas. Specific fluorescent antibody against Pythium insidiosum confirmed the hyphae in the infected tissues in three examined horses. In one of the three cases, the DNA sequences amplified from the infected subcutaneous tissues and internal organs, revealed that P. insidiosum's 18S SSU rDNA amplicons shared 100% identity with those sequences deposit in GenBank. This is the first report confirming by immunochemical and genetic techniques that P. insidiosum can disseminated from superficial to deep structures.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14559176/