ISSN 0008-5286 THE CANADIAN VETERINARY LA REVUE VETERINAIRE JOURNAL CANADIENNE Volume 27 June-juin 1986 No. 6

CASE REPORT

Rhinosporidiosis in a Dog

B. HOFF AND D.A. HALL Ontario Ministry ofAgriculture and Food, Veterinary Laboratory Services, Box 3612, Guelph, Ontario NiH 6R8 (Hoff) and Dundas Animal Hospital, 43 King Street West, Dundas, Ontario L9H 1 T5 (Hall)

Abstract characterized by the production of right nasal passage was inflamed, but A dog with a nasal papilloma due to polyps, tumors or papillomas which contained no mass. is presented. are friable, highly vascularized and Lateral and ventrodorsal radio- The causative organism was found hyperplastic. Areas most commonly graphs of the head were unremarka- using cytopathology and histopathol- affected are the nose and conjunctiva. ble. A hemogram was within normal ogy. The young Doberman dog had The disease occurs worldwide, but limits. never travelled out of the province of most cases are reported from India, A biopsy was performed. Several air Ontario and is the first case of Sri Lanka and Argentina. Rhinospori- dried smears were made for cytopa- rhinosporidiosis reported in Canada. dium seeberi has never been cultured, thology and the remainder of the and is known only in the form seen in biopsy was fixed in 10% buffered Key words: Rhinosporidiosis, Rhino- infected tissue. Stagnant water or dust formalin for histopathology. Rhino- sporidium seeberi, dog, nasal granu- presumably serves as the source of sporidiosis was diagnosed microscopi- loma. infection, and local trauma to the cally. nasal mucosa seems to predispose to Resume rhinosporidiosis (1,2). Cytopathology and Histopathology The cytology smears revealed a very Rhinosporidiose chez un chien Case History and Clinical Findings cellular sample with clumps of Une jeune Doberman presentait un A spayed female Doberman 1.5 yr macrophages and papillome nasal dfu a Rhinosporidium nondegenerate of age was presented to the clinic on neutrophils. Some of these seeberi. La cytopathologie et l'histo- cellular June 29, 1985 with sneezing and a contained pathologie permirent de trouver clumps sporangiospores l'agent etiologique precite. La jeune bloody nasal discharge. There was a with small globular bodies within the history of running into a fence five spores. These bodies were reddish chienne n'avait jamais voyage en dehors de la province d'Ontario. I1 weeks earlier. The dog was in good pink with Wright's stain (Figure 1). body condition with no other abnor- Sections from the mass were stained s'agit de premier cas de rhinosporidi- malities. It was treated with predni- with hematoxylin and eosin, periodic ose qu'on rapporte au Canada. sone and tetracycline for ten days with acid-Schiff and methenamine silver mild and was and Mots cles: rhinosporidiose, Rhino- improvement, admitted examined microscopically. The sporidium seeberi, chien, granulome to the hospital on July 18 with a mass contained polypoid processes nasal. bloody mucoid nasal discharge. A with a fibrous stroma, surrounded by nodular growth could be seen in the an intact stratified epithelium. left nasal passage. It appeared as a Embedded within the stroma were Introduction bright-red, polypoid mass, 1 cm in several round-to-ovoid sporangia up Rhinosporidiosis is a chronic diameter occupying the left nostril. to 100-200 Am in diameter, with thick granulomatous mycotic disease of the The mass was firm and covered with double outer membrane. Each sporan- mucocutaneous tissues. The disease is small white spots, and bled easily. The gium contained smaller sporangios-

Can Vet J 1986; 27: 231-232. 231 of human cases of rhinosporidiosis occur in endemic areas of India and Sri Lanka (3). The disease is also endemic in Argentina and occurs sporadically in widespread geographic areas including Australia, Africa, South America and the United States (3). No previous case of rhinosporidio- sis has been reported in an animal from Ontario. Rhinosporidiosis in domestic anim- als has been reported in horses, mules, cattle, dogs, geese and ducks (4,5,6,7). The life cycle and morphological features of the various forms of R. seeberi in tissues have been partially characterized (1). The natural habitat, transmission and cultural characteristics remain FIGURE 1. Mature spore from a sporangium of R. seeberi, with globular bodies. Wright's. XIOOO. poorly understood (1). Mucous membrane trauma is considered to be a factor that may predispose to the infection. Although the source of the infection is not known, the disease in man in India and Sri Lanka has been associated with swimming and work- ing in stagnant water. Other reports associate the infection with dusty conditions (1,2,3). Medical manage- ment of the disease has proven unsuccessful, leaving surgery and cautery as the most reliable means of 4VA treatment (1). Recurrence of the nodules following excision, however, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.k is not uncommon (3). References 1. JUNGERMAN PF, SWARTZMANN RM. Rhino- sporidiosis. In: Veterinary medical mycol- FIGURE 2. Photomicrograph of a section through a nasal polyp. Connective tissue stroma contain ogy. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger, 1972: 40- mature sporangia with spores already released, resulting in an intense mixed cell inflammatory 47. infiltrate. PAS. X250. 2. RIPPON JW. Rhinosporidiosis. In: Medical mycology. Philadelphia: Saunders, 1982: 325-334. 3. ATTLEBERGER MH. Subcutaneous and oppor- tunistic , the deep mycosis, and pores up to 6 ,um in size with globular Discussion actinomycetes. In: Kirk RW, ed. Current bodies. A large number of lympho- Chronic inflammatory processes veterinary therapy - VII. Philadelphia: WB cytes, plasma cells, neutrophils, and neoplasms of the nasal cavity are Saunders Company, 1980: 479. erythrocytes and hemosiderin-laden common in dogs. Mycotic nasal 4. MYERS DD, SIMON J, CASE MT. Rhinosporidio- macrophages, and congested capillar- infections in dogs are most commonly sis in a horse. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1964; 145: ies were seen throughout the connec- caused by fumigatus and 345-347. tive tissue stroma. The walls of the occasionally Cryptococcus neofor- 5. STUART BP, O'MALLY N. Rhinosporidiosis in a mature forms and spores reacted mans (3). dog. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1975; 167: 941- positively to periodic acid-Schiff and A rare cause of mycotic is 942. 6. CASTELLANO MC, IDIART JR, MARTIN AA. methenamine silver stains. Rhinosporidium seeberi (2). Most Rhinosporidiosis in a dog. Vet Med Small The histological picture provided a reported cases of rhinosporidiosis Anim Clin 1984; 70: 45-46. diagnosis of rhinosporidiosis of the have been in man, where it commonly 7. MOSIER DA, CREED JE. Rhinosporidiosis in a mucous membranes ofthe nasal cavity affects nasal mucous membranes and dog. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1984; 185: 1009- (Figure 2). occasionally conjunctiva. Nearly 90% 1010.

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