8^th Clinical Microbiology Conference

Mycoses are common on over the world and some human infections may originate from animals. In Poland, infection of Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Microsporum canis are the most common animal ringworms. Skin infection due to other mycelial fungi such as Alternaria alternata, especially in horses has become a new clinical problem. Malassezia infections are the most frequent superficial skin mycoses of dogs, but their role in atopic dermatitis (AD) and possibility of transmission for people is often apart from understated. The number of dermatitis in companion animal caused by Candida has lately increased significantly too. Different species of Candida are also frequently isolated from mastitis in dairy cows. Fungal infections in amphibians are now one of the most important reasons of extinction of these animals. The most dangerous are infections of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis or Saprolegnia ferax. Amphibian mycoses are so common and spread so fast, and have now been proclaimed an ecological catastrophe, but in Poland are rather rare problem. Aspergilosis in birds and nasal cavity aspergilosis in dogs are often shown in our country. There are no well documented reports of histoplasmosis, sporotrichosis, blastomycosis and coccidioidomycosis among animals in Poland, but the etiological role of many fungal species is still misunderstood. Simultaneously, the risk of animal’s mycoses as a source of infection for their owners is still not recognized to the end point.