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Equine Pulmonary Cryptococcosis: A Comparative Literature Review and Evaluation of Fluconazole Monotherapy

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Abstract

Cryptococcus is the most common fungal respiratory pathogen in Australian horses, manifesting primarily as pulmonary granulomas. Disease severity at presentation is dependent on the athletic use of the horse. The diagnosis and estimation of disease severity are centred around clinical findings, cytological evaluation of respiratory tract secretions, diagnostic imaging, and antigen titre testing. Both the lateral flow assay and the latex cryptococcal antigen titre are used, and important similarities and differences between species are discussed. Cryptococcus gattii occurs with greater frequency than Cryptococcus neoformans in equine pulmonic cryptococcosis and can be successfully treated with enteral fluconazole monotherapy, with disease severity determining treatment length.

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Notes

  1. Fluconazole enteral paste BOVA compounding, NSW, Australia.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the referring veterinarians, Drs Arun Ramachandran, Paul O'Callaghan and Michael Procter and the staff at The Animal Hospital at Murdoch University for their assistance with these cases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, South Street, Murdoch, WA, 6150, Australia

    C. J. Secombe & G. D. Lester

  2. Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    M. B. Krockenberger

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  1. C. J. Secombe
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  2. G. D. Lester
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  3. M. B. Krockenberger
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Correspondence to C. J. Secombe.

Additional information

This paper have been presented in part at the National Equine Veterinarians Australian conference, Gold Coast, Australia, July 2014.

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Secombe, C.J., Lester, G.D. & Krockenberger, M.B. Equine Pulmonary Cryptococcosis: A Comparative Literature Review and Evaluation of Fluconazole Monotherapy. Mycopathologia 182, 413–423 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-016-0065-9

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