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| − | ==Blastomycosis==
| + | [[Blastomycosis]] |
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| − | *North America
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| − | **Most common in the North-Central and South-Eastern states
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| − | *Caused by ''Blastomyces dermatitidis''
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| − | *Widespread in soil
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| − | *Respiratory infection
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| − | *Lesions start in the [[Lungs - Anatomy & Physiology|lungs]]
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| − | **Haematogenous dissemination
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| − | **Can be found in lesions in the eyes, brain, bones and genitalia
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| − | **Fatal if not treated
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| − | *Lesions are also found on the skin
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| − | *These may ulcerate
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| − | *Granulomatous nodules
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| − | *Affects mainly dogs (and humans)
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| − | **Can affect cats, horses, dolphins, ferrets and sealions but is rare in these species
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| − | *Microscopically:
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| − | **Large, spherical, thick-walled cells
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| − | **Single buds connected to a mother cell by a wide base
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| − | **Double contoured effect of cells
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| − |
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| − | *Grows on Sabauraud's Dextrose and Blood agar
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| − | **On Sabauraud's Dextrose colonies appear moist and grey with a white cotton-like mycelium which turns tan, brown and then black
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| − | ***Septate hyphae
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| − | ***Small, oval/pyriform conidia
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| − | ***Older cultures have thickened walls
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| − | **On Blood agar colonies are creamy in colour, waxy and wrinkled
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| − | ***Thick-walled budding yeast cells can be seen
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| − | *Diagnosis:
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| − | **Complement fixation test
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| − | **Falling antibody titres indicate a poor prognosis
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| − | **ELISA and counterimmunoelectrophoresis can also be used
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| − | *Treatment:
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| − | **[[Antifungal Drugs#Polyene Antifungals|Amphotericin B]]
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| − | **[[Antifungal Drugs#The Azoles|Imidazoles]]
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| | ==Coccidioidomycosis== | | ==Coccidioidomycosis== |