Novel Paranannizziopsis species in a Wagler's viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri), tentacled snakes (Erpeton tentaculatum), and a rhinoceros snake (Rhynchophis boulengeri) in a zoological collection

We report several cases of fungal infections in snakes associated with a new species within the genus Paranannizziopsis. Three juvenile Wagler's vipers (Tropidolaemus wagleri) presented with skin abnormalities or ulcerative dermatitis, and two snakes died. Histologic examination of skin from th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical mycology (Oxford) 2019-10, Vol.57 (7), p.825-832
Main Authors: Rainwater, Kimberly L, Wiederhold, Nathan P, Sutton, Deanna A, Garner, Michael M, Maguire, Cheryl, Sanders, Carmita, Gibas, Connie, Cano, José F, Guarro, Josep, Stchigel, Alberto M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biopsy
Female
Male
Mycoses - mortality
Mycoses - veterinary
Onygenales - classification
Onygenales - isolation & purification
Skin - microbiology
Skin - pathology
Snakes - microbiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We report several cases of fungal infections in snakes associated with a new species within the genus Paranannizziopsis. Three juvenile Wagler's vipers (Tropidolaemus wagleri) presented with skin abnormalities or ulcerative dermatitis, and two snakes died. Histologic examination of skin from the living viper revealed hyperplastic, hyperkeratotic, and crusting epidermitis with intralesional fungal elements. The terrestrial Wagler's vipers were housed in a room with fully aquatic tentacled snakes (Erpeton tentaculatum), among which there had been a history of intermittent skin lesions. Approximately 2 months after the biopsy of the viper, a skin sample was collected from one tentacled snake (TS1) with skin abnormalities and revealed a fungal infection with a similar histologic appearance. Fungal isolates were obtained via culture from the Wagler's viper and TS1 and revealed a novel species, Paranannizziopsis tardicrescens, based on phenotypic characterization and molecular analysis. P. tardicrescens was cultured and identified by DNA sequence analysis 8 months later from a dead tentacled snake in an exhibit in an adjacent hallway and 13 months later from a living rhinoceros snake (Rhynchophis boulengeri) with two focal skin lesions. Antifungal susceptibility testing on three of four cultured isolates demonstrated potent in vitro activity for terbinafine and voriconazole.
ISSN:1369-3786
1460-2709
DOI:10.1093/mmy/myy134