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