Studies on fungal flora in hair from domestic and laboratory animals suspected of dermatophytosis. I. Dematophytes.

Hairsamples of domestic and laboratory animals suspected of dermatophytosis were examined for the presence of dermatophytes. A nutritionally poor base-medium developed by the author was successfully used in the isolation and identification of dermatophytes. Casein-medium supplemented with vitamins and Sabouraud-liquid medium were used in special cases. Dermatophytes were isolated in 36 of 331 samples (10.9%). The dermatophytes recovered were Microsporum canis: 13 isolates from cat. 4 from dog. 1 from horse; Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. granulare: 3 isolates from dog, 3 from horse, 2 from guinea pig and 1 from rabbit; Trichophyton terrestre 1 isolate from dog. Eleven of the 13 feline isolates originated from house cats and the relative frequency was higher among the purebred cats. Two of the cat isolates were connected with human dermatophytosis.