Conjunctival fungal flora in healthy donkeys.

The research article presents the identification and quantification of conjunctival fungal flora in healthy Amiata donkeys living in central Italy, revealing that the most commonly isolated fungal genus was Aspergillus.

Methods

• The study examined 102 Amiata donkeys, from which they collected conjunctival swabs from both eyes. These swabs were then seeded onto Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) and malt extract agar (MEA) and were incubated at 25 degrees Celsius for 10 days.
• For identification, the filamentous fungi were classified to the genus level, while yeast colonies were identified using their macro-micromorphologic and physiological characteristics.

Results

• Among the donkeys examined, 81 out of 102 (79.4%) tested positive for fungi, with 47 of them (46.1%) having positive cultures from both eyes.
• The most frequently recovered fungal genera were Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp., Cladosporium spp., and Acremonium spp. Among them, Aspergillus was the most commonly isolated fungal genus, comprising 33% of the total.
• Different fungal genera and/or species were recovered from the same donkey in 43 cases. This accounts for 42.1% of the cases.
• Yeasts were isolated from five subjects. Noteworthy to mention here is that these yeasts were never found associated with molds.
• The number of colony-forming units ranged from 1 to 100, indicating the varying degree of fungal colonization across the subjects.

Conclusions

• The research concluded with a significant presence of fungi and perfect forms. Aspergillus was identified as the most common fungus.
• This high level of fungal presence corresponds with findings from similar studies conducted on horses.
• The researchers suggest that the significant presence of fungi, including the perfect forms, could be due to the optimal conditions provided by the conjunctival fornix microenvironment in Amiata donkeys for the presence and development of fungi.