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Research Article

Surveillance for Cryptococcus gattii in horses of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

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Pages 734-738 | Received 16 Nov 2010, Accepted 28 Jan 2011, Published online: 07 Mar 2011
 

Abstract

In the last decade Cryptococcus gattii has emerged as an important human and animal pathogen in southwestern British Columbia (BC), Canada. When the disease initially emerged it was identified in humans and multiple animal species on the east coast of Vancouver Island. From fall 2003 until summer 2004, active surveillance was initiated to look for horses exposed to or infected with the organism by performing nasal cultures and serum antigen testing in horses residing within 10 km of known areas of environmental reservoirs of the fungus. Surveillance efforts were facilitated by local equine practitioners who were also encouraged to report clinical cases. Nasal colonization was identified in four of the 260 horses tested but none had a serum cryptococcal antigen titer. All positive horses were from the same geographic area near Duncan, BC. During the study period, a single horse was diagnosed with systemic cryptococcosis and euthanized; clinical and post mortem information is described. As this organism continues to disseminate in the Pacific Northwest it is important for veterinarians to be familiar with the disease as early diagnosis may enable more effective treatment.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the many veterinarians and their clients for assisting with this study. Special thanks to Dr Sarah Kidd for the molecular typing of the clinical equine isolate and to Sunny Mack of the BC CDC for creating maps of inclusion areas that were provided to equine practitioners participating in this study.

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 publisher online on 09 March 2011

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