Treatment of dermatophytoses caused by Microsporum canis in Allouatta guariba primates

Abstract

Background: Dermatophytoses are cosmopolitan contagious mycoses of the skin and concern a wide range of mammals, including man, and more rarely birds. These mycoses are rarely diagnosed in New World Primates. The most frequent tinea of the subhuman Primates is microsporosis due to Microsporum canis or trichophytosis by Trichophyton mentagrophytes and T. simii. The main clinical features are regular alopecia with erythema and squamosis, usually non-pruriginous although various degree of inammation may modify this typical aspect. As a consequence, an accurate clinical examination, a good differential diagnosis and laboratory analyses are required for a correct identification. Alouatta guariba are primates found from the Amazon region up to the Argentina Norwest. Due to the population development and expansion of the urban perimeters these animals are loosing their space in their own natural habitat and being exposed to more closed relationship with domestic animals and humans. This report contains five cases of dermatophytoses caused by Microsporum canis in Alouatta sp., which were treated in a private clinic in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Case: Five females of Alouatta guariba with aged between 2 and 8 months old were admitted in a private veterinary clinic (Toca dos Bichos, Porto Alegre). Each of them had different injuries (electric chock, death of the parent due gun shot, aggression between families and dog bite) and were admitted in different dates. All five primates were presented with intense pruritus after 7 or 10 days of admission. At physical examination lesions characteristic of dermatophytoses were found. To establish a definitive diagnosis it was collected fur and skin and the material was send to the Mycology Laboratory of the Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. The fungic culture was positive for Microsporum canis. The treatment established was fluconazole, 18 mg/kg/day PO, mixed in smashed bananas. After two weeks of treatment, a sensitive clinic improvement was seen in all primates, characterized by diminishing of pruritus and alopecic areas. At 30 days of treatment the animals had no clinical signs of lesions and had their fur completely re-grown. The medication was administered for more 15 days, totalizing 45 days of treatment, at which time the animals were considered cured. The primates were monitored for more 30 days after the last dose of fluconazole. Discussion: Case reports on the isolation of Microsporum canis in non-human primates, mainly in New World Primates, are very rare in the Brazilian literature. It is necessary more cohesive approach to nonhuman primate (NHP) dermatology, without relying on assumptions that it is similar to other veterinary disease. Mycological culture remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of animal dermatophytosis and the only method for the phenotypic identication of dermatophyte species. The fluconazole treatment proved to be highly effective, as the animals were all cured and there was no side effects related. This case report proves the importance of a correct mycological diagnostic in free-range animals as an effective treatment in Alouatta guariba.