Basidiobolus ranarum as a cause of subcutaneous mycosis in Indonesia.

Abstract

Basidiobolus ranarum Eidam has been known since 18871as a saprophytic fungus found in many parts of the world in the digestive tract of frogs and lizards and in beetles which feed upon the excrement of these animals and are in turn eaten by them. We have studied two unusual cases of subcutaneous infections in man in Indonesia in which this fungus was established as the etiologic agent. The fungus is a member of the family Entomophthoraceae in the class Phycomycetes. Two other families of the Phycomycetes (Mucoraceae and Mortierellaceae) contain fungi which are better known as pathogens of man, but proved infections caused by even these fungi are rare, and no representatives of any of the three groups have been found previously as pathogens of man in Indonesia. In tissue sections the fungi representing these three families cannot be differentiated with certainty. All