Case Report Disseminated aspergillosis in a dog due to Aspergillus alabamensis Eric Burrough a,n , Krysta Deitz b , Joann Kinyon a , Claire Andreasen c , Timothy Frana a , Deanna Sutton d , Elizabeth Thompson d , Jianmin Fu e , Brian Wickes e , Jesse Hostetter c a Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA b Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA c Department of Veterinary Pathology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA d Department of Pathology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA e Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA article info Article history: Received 16 February 2012 Accepted 20 February 2012 Keywords: Aspergillosis Aspergillus alabamensis Disseminated fungal disease Veterinary mycology abstract Disseminated aspergillosis is uncommon in dogs and often associated with Aspergillus terreus. A case of disseminated disease in an English springer spaniel is reported from which Aspergillus alabamensis was recovered by culture and identified by molecular means suggesting a potential role for this agent as a primary pathogen of dogs. & 2012 International Society for Human and Animal Mycology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Disseminated aspergillosis is uncommon in dogs and often associated with Aspergillus terreus infection [1]; however, Aspergillus deflectus, Aspergillus flavipes, and Aspergillus fumigatus have also been identified in dogs with disseminated disease [2] and there is a recent case report of disseminated aspergillosis due to Aspergillus versico- lor [3]. German shepherd dogs appear predisposed to disseminated disease [1], although immunosuppression in any breed may increase the potential for infection and disease has been reported in dogs receiving corticosteroids [4–6]. In most cases, the portal of entry is assumed to be the respiratory tract with subsequent hematogenous spread, and organs reported to be affected in 23 cases [1,4–11] of disseminated disease include the kidney, spleen, lymph nodes, bone, liver, heart, lung, eyes, pancreas, bone marrow, brain, urinary bladder, prostate, pleura, adrenal, stomach, uterus, thyroid, and thymus with decreasing frequency. 2. Materials and methods An ante mortem peritoneal fluid sample and a postmortem liver sample were separately plated onto sheep blood agar, Sabouraud dextrose agar (BD, Sparks, Maryland), Emmons Sabouraud dextrose agar (BD), and Mycobiotic Agar (Remel, Lenexa, Kansas), and incu- bated at 25 1C and 35 1C with and without CO 2 . First growth was observed at 4th day on both SD and the selective media at 35 1C and appeared as heavy surface growth of buff and white colonies. Colonies of similar morphology were isolated from both clinical specimens and microscopic evaluation revealed septate hyphae; however, initial phenotypic identification was not definitive. A salmon to pale brown- colored isolate demonstrating very tiny colonies with irregular hyphae was submitted to the Fungus Testing Laboratory (University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas) for identification and was accessioned into their culture collection as UTHSC 10-1030. There the isolate was subcultured onto potato flakes agar (PFA) and carnation leaf agar (CLA) [12], both prepared in-house. After 4 weeks incubation at 25 1C colonies on PFA were still only approximately 3 mm diameter, pale pink, and demonstrated a diffusing yellow pigment. Although no diagnostic structures were present on either PFA or CLA, an A. terreus was considered at this point. The colonial morphology of the isolate on PFA at 35 1C was similar to that at 25 1C, with no enhanced growth at the higher temperature. A repeat subculture on a 60 mm PFA plate incubated for 16 days at 25 1C, in preparation for deposit of the isolate into the University of Alberta Microfungus Collection, demonstrated more vigorous growth with pinkish-yellow colonies and a more intense yellow diffusing pigment (Fig. 1); however, the colonial size was similar and the isolate remained sterile. As there was no conidial formation after 4 weeks, the isolate was subsequently sequenced under accession number R-4572. Preliminary sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region suggested that the isolate was a member of the genus Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mmcr Medical Mycology Case Reports 2211-7539/$ - see front matter & 2012 International Society for Human and Animal Mycology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.mmcr.2012.02.002 n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 515 294 1950; fax: þ1 515 294 6961. E-mail address: burrough@iastate.edu (E. Burrough). Medical Mycology Case Reports 1 (2012) 1–4