Histoplasmose generalizada em um felino

Abstract

Histoplasmosis is a systemic fungal disease caused by the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum, which is characterized by being dimorphic and saprophytic and is found more strongly in soils contaminated with bird and bat droppings. This pathology can have an acute or chronic clinical character and result in subclinical, pulmonary or disseminated infection. The diagnosis can be obtained by fungal culture and the treatment is mainly based on itraconazole. This study aims to report the case of a feline diagnosed through cytology and fungal culture with disseminated histoplasmosis that ended up dying after being treated for seven months with itraconazole. A necropsy report showed the presence of the fungus in the lung, brain, spinal cord, nasal cavity (turbinates), lymph nodes (left submandibular, left and right retropharyngeal), eye and periocular tissue. Histoplasmosis is a zoonosis that can be difficult to treat in cats.