Abstract
Outbreak of acute bovine dermatophytosis in a large scale dairy herd in Arusha region of Tanzania is described. Clinical history of the condition complimented with detailed examination of the affected animals (33.3%, 14/42) revealed that animals were pastured during the day and padlocked at night. The main clinical signs presented were gray-white, discrete, crusty, circumscribed extensive lesion all over the body. Skin scrapings were taken from the lesions for mites and fungal isolation and characterization. Pinched off lesion were examined in 30 % KOH preparations and scrapping were directly streaked on 0 Trichophyton Agar and incubated at 37 C. Bacteriological and fungal stain of the colonies revealed positive mycotic structures spherical, pyriform to calvate often of irregular shape which is characteristic of Trychophyton verrucosum. The isolation and morphological identification of T. verrucosum supported the clinical diagnosis. Considering the large number of animals involved, and the severity of the lesions, that necessitated veterinary intervention, it would be necessary to asses the prevalence and economic importance of the disease in dairy herd establishments in Tanzania. Arusha, Cattle, Tanzania, T. verrucosum
Highlights
Dermatophytosis, caused by Trichophyton verrucosum, is a disease that affects many spp of livestock and occurs as an acute or chronic skin disease (Svejgaard, 1986; Chermette et al, 2008)
A tentative diagnosis of cutaneous bovine dermatophytosis was made on 25 Nov 2006 and the affected animals were isolated from the rest of the animals
Infected human may experience a strong inflammatory infection which may typically occur in the scalp, the beard region, or the glabrous skin (Nweze, 2010). The significance of this investigation is that persistent infections of farm animals by fungal like T. verrucosum in addition to its deleterious effects on cattle causes public health hazards (Nweze, 2010)
Summary
Dermatophytosis, caused by Trichophyton verrucosum, is a disease that affects many spp of livestock and occurs as an acute or chronic skin disease (Svejgaard, 1986; Chermette et al, 2008). The clinical disease has been recognized in several African countries (Pandey, 1979; Abou-Gabal et al, 1976; Efuntoye and Fashanu, 2002) the occurrence of clinical disease in Tanzania has never been reported previously and, not fully thoroughly known. This case report describes an outbreak of acute bovine dermatophytosis in a large scale dairy herd and highlights that the disease in Tanzania could occur in outbreak proportions and in clinically severe form as has been reported in other countries in west and north Africa.
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