Ocular fungal flora from healthy horses in Iran.

This research article focuses on identifying the types and prevalence of fungi present in the eye (conjunctival) of healthy horses of various breeds in Tehran, Iran.

Methodology

• The authors of the study examined a total of 72 adult horses from different breeds which include the Caspian miniature, Thoroughbred, Turkmen, and Persian Arab.
• Sterile cotton swabs were used to collect ocular samples from both the right and left eyes of each horse.
• These samples were then cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar, which is a type of medium used for cultivating fungi, and incubated at 30°C for a period of 7 to 10 days.
• Macro and micro-morphological characteristics along with physiological properties were used to identify the types of molds and yeasts present in the samples.

Findings

• The study found that the number of fungi colonies in each eye varied, with some having none and others having as many as 123 colony forming units (CFUs).
• The most common fungal isolates identified were from the Aspergillus genus (19.9%), followed by Rhizopus (15.9%) and Penicillium (15.1%).
• Through this research, it was determined that there were no significant differences in the types of fungi found in the eyes of different horse breeds.
• However, it was found that Caspian miniature horses had a significantly higher number of fungal isolates than the other breeds investigated. No significant differences were found among the other breeds in term of the numbers of fungal isolates.

Conclusions

• The variety of fungi identified in this study was found to be similar to those identified in similar studies conducted in other countries.
• Any differences in the types of species isolated from the horses involved in this study, compared to those in other regions, could possibly be attributed to differences in geographical location and climate conditions.