Entomophthoramycosis

Entomophthoramycoses are subcutaneous Zygomycoses caused by fungi belonging to the genera Basidiobolus and Conidiobolus, which cause localized subcutaneous granu­lomas in immunocompetent humans and animals.

These organisms reside in decaying plant material, soil and leaves from deciduous trees. In addition, Basidiobolus spp. are frequently isolated from the intestines of fish, frogs, toads, insects, reptiles and insectivorous bats. Although these genera are distributed worldwide, the dis­eases in wild animals are reported in Africa, India, Saudi Arabia, South and North America and Australia.

In animals, entomophthoramycoses are reported mainly as cutaneous or subcutaneous infections in horses, llamas (Lama glama) and toads (B ufo hemiophrys), and as rhino­facial, nasopharyngeal or oral infections in horses, dogs and sheep(^14,15).

Basidiobolus infections cause cutaneous or subcutaneous lesions localized on the head, neck, chest or trunk, char­acterized by a granulomatous mass with an erythematous and haemorrhagic surface.

Conidiobolus infections occur as nasopharyngeal infec­tions with or without local dissemination into tissues of the face, retropharyngeal region, retrobulbar spaces or cer­ebrum. They are characterized by nasal obstruction, nasal discharge or chronic sinusitis. The infections can be diag­nosed by microscopic histopathological examination and by fungal culture with tissue samples.