Co-cutaneous infection in a dog: PCR-reverse identification of Candida tropicalis on skin biopsy.

Canine leishmaniasis is a very common disease in all countries of the Mediterranean area. In these territories, Leishmania infantum MONT-1 is the species producing visceral infections in humans and visceral -cutaneous infections in dogs, the principal domestic reservoir. The alterations of the immune response during leishmaniasis could predispose the host to other infectious, parasitic or mycologic diseases. In the domain of mycology, concurrent infections by dermatophytes and Aspergillus were reported. It is reported a clinical case of Candida tropicalis and L. infantum co-infection in a dog with skin lesions; it could be the first report of a such co-infection. The animal is a 10-year-old mongret mate dog showing, since about 1 year, a diffuse dermatitis on the face, the back and the flanks, characterized by atopecia and scaling. Serotogical tests for ehrlichiosis and rickettsiosis gave negative result, white indirect immunofluorescence test for IgG anti-L. infantum antibodies gave a positive titre of 1:640. Due to the severity of the lesions euthanasia of the dog was decided. Histopathology and immunochemistry performed on skin biopsies confirmed the positivity for Leishmania; by mycological culture and PCR-reverse hybridization assay on skin biopsies C. tropicalis was identified as associated to the protozoan. An impaired immune function and skin lesions caused by L. infantum could have played a direct rote in the development of C. tropicolis.