EXPERIMENTAL MICROSPORUM LANOSUM INFECTION IN DOGS, CATS AND RABBITS .1. OBSERVATION ON THE COURSE OF THE PRIMARY INFECTION AND ATTEMPTS TO DEVELOP A METHOD FOR SCREENING ANTIFUNGAL AGENTS IN LABORATORY ANIMALS

[摘要] The clinical course, fluorescence and mycologic findings of experimental M. lanosum infection in rabbits.newborn rabbits, cats, kittens, dogs and puppies are described. The infection in 9 week-old rabbits showed a great individual variation in contrast to its relative constancy in newborn rabbits. In the rabbits inoculated at 24 hours and at 10 days after birth both the time of fluorescence and the period of positive cultural findings are similar and rather uniform. A peculiar feature in both groups of these animals is the gradual shifting of fluorescence to the tips of the hair. The persistence of alopecia in rabbits is presumed not to be related to the infection and therefore is not considered a clinical sign. Dogs infected with M. lanosum showed the stronger response than those inoculated with M. lanosum infected hair. The mean fluorescence was uniform in all the dogs. Positive cultures could be recovered for 133 days in one of the mongrel dogs, and for 112 days in a Chihuahua puppy. Alopecia in these animals is not considered a clinical sign. Siamese cats and kittens, as well as alley kittens, showed a rather wide-spread progressive infection. In some animals the peri-oral area was heavily infected but the tactile hair remained free from infection. The female Siamese kitten showed the longest period of fluorescence (251 days). Newborn rabbits infected with M. lanosum showed the least individual variation in the course of the infection. It is therefore recommended that these animals be studied further in regard to their possible usefulness for screening of antifungal remedies intended as therapeutic agents for human superficial fungus infections.