Fungal flora on cutaneous and mucosal surfaces of cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus or feline leukemia virus

Objective-To compare cutaneous and mucosal mycoflora in cats infected with FIV or FeLV with that in noninfected cats. Animals-85 client-owned cats; 24 seropositive for FIV, 10 seropositive for FeLV, 1 seropositive for both viruses, and 50 seronegative for both viruses . Procedure-Cutaneous specimens were obtained from the coat and external acou stic meatus (ear canal) and mucosal specimens from the oropharynx and rectu m. Fungi were isolated from specimens, using Sabouraud dextrose agar incuba ted at 27 or 37 C for cutaneous and mucosal specimens, respectively. Results-Fungal colonies were cultured from at least 1 specimen from 83 of 8 5 (97.6%) cats. The most common fungal isolates were Aspergillus spp (cultu red from 59.3% of all specimens), Penicillium spp (50.0%), Cladosporium spp (44.2%), Scopulariopsis spp (41.8%), and lipophilic yeasts of the genus Ma lassezia (31.4%), A greater diversity of fungal genera was isolated from re trovirus-infected cats, and Malassezia spp were more commonly recovered fro m these cars, compared with noninfected cats. Candida albicans, Cryptococcu s neoformans, and dermatophytes (eg, Microsporum canis) were rarely isolate d from any cat. Significant differences in frequency of isolation of C neof ormans and dermatophytes were not found between infected and noninfected ca ts. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Cats infected with FIV or FeLV may have a greater diversity of cutaneous and mucosal mycoflora than noninfected cat s. However, infected cats may be no more likely than noninfected cats to ex pose humans to zoonotic fungi such as C albicans, C neoformans, and M canis .