Abstract
The nasal cavities of domestic animals may concentrate and allow isolation of environmentally acquired fungal pathogens. We obtained two swabs each from the nares of 110 asymptomatic, physically normal dogs from a veterinary practice in Eagle River, WI, USA, an area highly endemic for blastomycosis. Four of the tested dogs had past histories of blastomycosis. Samples were placed on yeast extract phosphate (Smith's) media at 20°C but growth of Blastomyces dermatitidis was not observed on any of the 220 cultures. One dog developed cytologically confirmed B. dermatitidis one month following culture of its samples, 6 died of other illnesses, while 91/103 dogs completing follow-up have remained asymptomatic for three years. We did not observe nasal colonization by B. dermatitidis in this population of dogs with potential for sniffing and digging in an environment highly endemic for this fungus.
Acknowledgements
Portions of this work were supported by a Merck-Merial Research Fellowship awarded to N.V., and by a contribution to the St Luke's Foundation by Mr and Mrs Charles Goldsworthy, Eagle River, WI. The authors thank Karen Blanchard for manuscript assistance.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
This paper was first published online on iFirst on 30 January 2009.