Keratinophilic fungi from coats of wild boars in Italy.

Abstract

Hair samples were collected from wild boars (Sus scrofa) in Italy to determine the presence of keratinophilic fungi. Eleven (5%) of 211 boars had fungi: two (1%) had Trichophyton mentagrophytes, five (2%) had T. terrestre, two (1%) had Chrysosporium keratinophilum, one (0.5%) had Chrysosporium tropicum, and one (0.5%) had both C. keratinophilum and T. terrestre. These are the first recorded isolations of C. keratinophilum, C. tropicum, and T. terrestre from wild boars. Based on the low prevalence of keratinophilic fungi, wild boars probably are not of special epizootological interest for dermatophytic infections.