Role of the armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus in the epidemiology of paracoccidioidomycosis.
A study conducted in a rural area of Ibiá, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, where Paracoccidioides brasiliensis was recently isolated from soil, sought to determine if the armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus developed paracoccidioidomycosis. Out of 21 armadillos captured in the area, one had a lung granuloma containing fungal cells attributable to those of P. brasiliensis. The present report presents the first histopathological evidence for the presence of this pathogen in the lungs of an armadillo. This finding permitted us to establish a linkage between the two species and to suggest that fungal infections of humans and of armadillos occur in the same agricultural and forest microenvironment that they share.
Vergara
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ML
Martinez
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D000818:Animals; D001135:Armadillos / Q000382:microbiology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D017753:Ecosystem; D006099:Granuloma / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary; D006801:Humans; D008172:Lung Diseases, Fungal / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary; D010228:Paracoccidioides / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D010229:Paracoccidioidomycosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D012988:Soil Microbiology