A Canine Case of North American Blastomycosis in Alberta, Canada/Nordamerikanische Blastomykose bei einem Hund in Alberta, Kanada

• Published in: Mycoses
• Main Authors: Sekhon, A. S., Marien, G. R. J., Easton, B., Garg, A. K.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1988
• Subjects: Canada; eskimo*
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0507.1988.tb03649.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1439-0507.1988.tb03649.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1439-0507.1988.tb03649.x

Summary: A freely roaming female Siberian Husky dog, which had spent two successive summers in a rural area of the Ottawa Valley in the province of Ontario with its owner, was seen first in an Alberta private clinic in August 1985 with the complaint of periodic cough. After a second visit, the dog's condition deteriorated and it was brought back to the clinic. At this time, it was febrile and had a chronic cough with hemoptysis. The x‐ray findings revealed generalized opacities in both lungs. A needle biopsy was performed and empirical treatment with chloramphenicol was instituted. Tissue sections of the lung aspirate revealed budding yeast cells, suggestive of Blastomyces dermatitidis. The dog was treated with ketoconazole. However, the dog became depressed, coughed persistently and died a week later. An autopsy was performed and lung tissue was excised for microbial examination. Wet mounts, including stained tissue sections, showed thick‐walled, broad‐based mother cells with single daughter cells. They were morphologically compatible with B. dermatitidis. The indirect fluorescent antibody procedure yielded a 2+ reaction with a conjugate specific for B. dermatitidis. A fungus grew from homogenized lung tissue planted on brain heart infusion (BHIA), mycosel and phytone‐yeast extract agars at 25 °C and 37 °C. The mould form growth (25 °C) from BHIA converted into its yeast form when subcultured on the same agar medium at 37 °C in about three weeks. The identity of the fungus was confirmed by the exoantigen procedure, as its exoantigenic extracts contained the »A« antigen specific for B. dermatitidis. This is the first report of a fatal canine case of blastomycosis from an area of Canada not previously known to be endemic for B. dermatitidis. Zusammenfassung: Eine freilebende Sibirische Eskimohündin, die mit ihrer Eigentümerin zwei aufeinanderfolgende Sommer im Ottawa‐Tal (Provinz Ontario) in ländlicher Umgebung verbracht hatte, wurde im August 1985 zum erstenmal wegen periodischen Hustens in einer privaten ...