First record of C.cerealis from Camel meat lesions in Egypt.

Abstract

Camels were formerly considered resistant to most of the diseases commonly affecting livestock. Recently, camels were found to be susceptible to a large number of pathogenic agents. The aim of this work is to identify the causative agent of meat lesion encountered in one humped male camels carcasses at abattoir in Matrouh governorate, Egypt. Out of 50 carcass of slaughtered male camel, 12 meat lesions were macroscopically found. Blackening and necrotic area lesions were exposed to routine mycological examination. This revealed the presence of Cryptococcus in one lesion. Cryptococcus infection is an opportunistic infection that occurs primarily among patients who are immunosuppressed or getting access through accidental penetration of skin barriers. The isolated fungi was tested by PCR amplification of the ITS region and sequencing of 28S ribosomal RNA gene. The alignment of the fungal isolates 28S region sequences revealed 94% identity with Cryptococcus cerealis in the gene bank library. For the best of our knowledge, this is the first isolation of C. cerealis from camel meat lesion in Egypt.