Mycobiology.  2007 Jun;35(2):100-102.

Molds Isolated from Pet Dogs

• Jang KS
• Yun YH
• Yoo HD
• Kim SH

Abstract

Pet dogs have been considered to be involved in the contamination of indoor air by serving as a source of providing molds at houses. Currently, information on the molds originated from pet dogs is rarely available in Korea. The present study was carried out to obtain basic information on the fungi present on pet dogs. For this, fungal isolation was performed to the skin and hairs of 70 pet dogs at different houses and veterinary hospitals. A total of 44 fungal isolates were obtained from skin (27 isolates) and hairs (17 isolates) of the dogs investigated. Based on the observation of microstructures and colony morphology, and the ITS rDNA sequence analysis, the fungal isolates were identified at the level of genus. The identified isolates belong to the genera of Alternaria, Aspergillus, Beauveria, Chrysosporium, Cladosporium, Penicillium, Scopulariopsis, and Trichoderma. Among these genera, Aspergillus (25%), Cladosporium (23%) and Penicillium (20.5%) were 3 major genera. 63% of the 44 isolates showed color changes on dermatophyte test medium (DTM). When we tested the growth ability of 44 isolates at 37degrees C, 45% of the isolates were able to grow. These results show that pet dogs could carry fungi having a potentiality of affecting on human health.

Keyword

Alternaria; Aspergillus; Cladosporium; DTM; Indoor molds; Pet dogs

MeSH Terms

Alternaria
Animals
Arthrodermataceae
Aspergillus
Beauveria
Chrysosporium
Cladosporium
DNA, Ribosomal
Dogs*
Fungi*
Hair
Hospitals, Animal
Humans
Korea
Penicillium
Scopulariopsis
Sequence Analysis
Skin
Trichoderma
DNA, Ribosomal