title: Ocular fungal flora from healthy horses in Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was carried out in order to isolate and identify the normal conjunctival fungal flora from Caspian miniature, Thoroughbred, Turkmen and Persian Arab breeds in Tehran, Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of seventy-two adult healthy horses were studied. Ocular samples were collected from right and left eyes by using sterile cotton swabs; samples were cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar and incubated at 30°C for 7-10 days. Molds and yeasts were identified using macro and micro-morphological and physiological characteristics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Number of fungal colonies per eye varied between 0 and 123 colony forming units (CFUs). The most predominant fungal isolates were Aspergillus (19.9%), Rhizopus (15.9%) and Penicillium (15.1%). No significant differences were observed between types of eye fungal floras in different breeds. Caspian miniature horses had significantly the highest number of fungal isolates in compare with other breeds (P<0.001), however no significant difference was observed among other breeds under study. The fungal isolates were almost the same as with studies performed in other countries, although differences in species isolated could be related to geographic and climate difference.
authors.affiliation: Mycology Research Center, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran 14155-6453, Iran. Electronic address: khosravi@ut.ac.ir.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Khosravi
authors.affiliation: Mycology Research Center, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran 14155-6453, Iran.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nikaein
authors.affiliation: Mycology Research Center, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran 14155-6453, Iran.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharifzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gharagozlou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000382:microbiology*; D005123:Eye / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D005658:Fungi / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006736:Horses / Q000382:microbiology*; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male
keywords: Aspergillus; Aspergillus spp.; Cheval; Conjonctive; Conjunctiva; Flore fongique; Fungal flora; Horse; Iran; Rhizopus; Rhizopus spp.