Equine intestinal pythiosis in Southern Brazil.

Abstract

The most common clinical presentation of the disease is the cutaneous form, which is characterized by granulomatous ulcerative lesions and yellow to tan necrotic masses, also termed ‘kunkers’ (Santurio et al., 2006). Nevertheless, isolated cases of enteric pythiosis have sporadically been described in horses (Brown and Roberts, 1988; Morton et al., 1991; Purcell et al., 1994), cats (Barker et al., 1993), and most commonly in dogs (Dykstra et al., 1999). The pathogenesis of intestinal pythiosis is not completely understood. It has been suggested that previous injury caused by vegetal material or pathogenic agents on the intestinal mucosa may be important predisposing factors (Morton et al., 1991; Purcell et al., 1994). Alternatively, the disease could also occur by active penetration of the agent (Brown and Roberts, 1988). This case report describes the pathologic and immunohistochemical findings observed in a case of equine intestinal pythiosis. An eight-year-old English Thoroughbred mare was presented for clinical examination with a