First confirmed case of nasal pythiosis in a horse in Thailand.
Abstract: Pythiosis is caused by , a fungus-like organism in the class . It can infect humans and a variety of animal species in tropical, subtropical and some temperate regions. Cases of animal pythiosis have occurred predominantly in horses in the skin and subcutaneous tissue at the limbs and in the ventral portion of thoracoabdominal wall - lesions in the nasal region are rarely reported. Moreover, although many human pythiosis cases have been reported in Thailand, no cases of animal pythiosis in Thailand have been reported. Methods: We report a case of pythiosis in a horse infected at the nasal cavity. Diagnosis was performed by zoospore formation by bait technique, immunohistochemical stain, immunochromatography and sequence analysis. Conclusions: The sequences of rDNA were 99 % and 96 to 99 % identical to GenBank isolates of from two Thai human patients and horses from various countries, respectively. This represents the first confirmed report of nasal equine pythiosis in Thailand.
Publication Date: 2018-01-09 PubMed ID: 29568533PubMed Central: PMC5857371DOI: 10.1099/jmmcr.0.005136Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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This research describes the first confirmed case of a disease called pythiosis in a horse’s nasal cavity in Thailand. Methods used for diagnosis include zoospore formation by bait technique, immunohistochemical stain, immunochromatography and sequence analysis.
Understanding Pythiosis
- Pythiosis is a type of infection caused by Pythium insidiosum, a type of organism that behaves like a fungus. It is usually found in tropical, subtropical, and some temperate regions.
- It can affect humans and numerous animal species, predominantly inflicting horses and creating infections in their skin and subcutaneous tissues, mainly at the limbs and parts of the thoracoabdominal wall. More rarely, these diseases can appear in the nasal region of the infected subject.
- While human cases of pythiosis have been previously reported in Thailand, this paper reports the first-ever incident of equine (related to or affecting horses) pythiosis.
The Case and Its Diagnosis
- The case being reported is that of nasal pythiosis found in a horse in Thailand.
- The diagnosis of this case was carried out using a range of techniques. First, they used something called a ‘baiting technique’ to produce zoospores (a type of asexual reproductive spore) to provide physical evidence of the organism.
- Then, they used an immunohistochemical stain, a process that involves staining the cross-sections of the diseased tissue to visualize the presence and distribution of the infectious organism.
- Another technique used was immunochromatography, a method that employs antibodies to show the presence of the pathogen. Sequence analysis of the pathogen’s DNA was also done to confirm its identity.
Significance of this Study
- The DNA analysis showed that the Pythium insidiosum isolated from the infected horse was 99% identical to isolates of the organism collected from two human patients in Thailand. This similarity extended to 96-99% when compared with isolates from horses in different countries.
- These findings confirm that this is a case of nasal pythiosis, marking it as the first recorded case of such a condition in a horse in Thailand. As such, this discovery dramatically expands our knowledge about the geographical distribution and species susceptibility of pythiosis.
Cite This Article
APA
Tonpitak W, Pathomsakulwong W, Sornklien C, Krajaejun T, Wutthiwithayaphong S.
(2018).
First confirmed case of nasal pythiosis in a horse in Thailand.
JMM Case Rep, 5(1), e005136.
https://doi.org/10.1099/jmmcr.0.005136 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mahanakorn University of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand.
- Equine Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen campus, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mahanakorn University of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand.
- Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
- Clinic for Horse, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mahanakorn University of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand.
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
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Citations
This article has been cited 5 times.- Yolanda H, Krajaejun T. History and Perspective of Immunotherapy for Pythiosis. Vaccines (Basel) 2021 Sep 26;9(10).
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- Yolanda H, Krajaejun T. Review of methods and antimicrobial agents for susceptibility testing against Pythium insidiosum. Heliyon 2020 Apr;6(4):e03737.
- Vasconcelos AB, França DA, Prado ACD, Yamauchi DH, Silva ACAD, Barros IO, Valença SRFA, Lucheis SB, Bosco SMG. Molecular Detection of Pythium insidiosum in Cutaneous Lesions of Horses from Northeastern Brazil. Animals (Basel) 2025 Sep 30;15(19).
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