Prevalence and antifungal susceptibility of mycotic agents isolated from skin lesions of horses in Enugu State, Nigeria

The study was conducted at Obollo-Afor horse market to determine the occurrence and the antifungal susceptibility profile of mycotic agents in skin lesions of trade horses. The samples were collected by plucking the hair and scraping the epidermal scales using sterile scapel blades. Each sample was planted onto the surface of Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) media plate. Inoculated plates was incubated at 25–30 °C and examined daily for fungal growth for 4 weeks. After obtaining pure cultures, they were subcultured on the Potato dextrose agar (PDA) for proper sporulation. Identification of each of the fungal isolates were based on cultural characteristics, microscopic examinations, slide culture technique and biochemical tests. 150 (30.18%) of the examined horses had skin lesions, 97 (64.7%) of which were males while 53 (35.3%) were females. In the wet season, 140 (93.3%) of the horses with skin lesions were observed and 10 (6.6%) were observed to have lesions during the dry season. The overall isolation rates were as follows the genera Aspergillus (24.5%), Trichophyton (14.3%), Microsporum (6.1%), Penicillium (8.2%), Curvularia (6.1%) and Fusarium (4.1%) from skin lesions of horses. All the isolates apart of those of Penicillium spp. were resistant to fluconazole while none of the respective isolates were resistant to voriconazole and nystatin. This study has provided baseline information which includes sex and seasonal distributions of the fungal agents associated with skin lesions in trade horses in Obollo-Afor area of Enugu State. Antifungal susceptibility results shows that voriconazole and nystatin are the drugs of choice in the treatment of dermatomycoses of horses in Nigeria.