A case of pitted keratolysis caused by Dermatophilus congolensis is reported. The organism was isolated from the lesion and identified by its morphological, cultural, and biochemical characteristics. A survey of the literature revealed that it rarely causes human infections, but is a common causative agent of disease in domesticated and wild animals. Human infections reported previously were traced to contact with infected animals or contaminated soil. We report pitted keratolysis in a 44-year-old physician with no known history of such a contact.
Adult Mansonella perstans infected the abdominal cavity of nine patients seen at Karawa Hospital in the Ubangi territory of Zaire. In four patients the worms were removed at laparotomy, and in the other five they were removed at autopsy. Twelve adult worms were identified in the nine patients. None of the worms caused symptoms or contributed to the patient's death. Worms were in the hernial sac in three patients, and one each was in connective tissue beside a reactive mesenteric lymph node, in peripancreatic connective tissue, in perirenal connective tissue, in hepatic portal connective tissue, on the serosal surface of the small intestine, and in connective tissue adjacent to rectum. The diameter of male worms was 45 microns to 60 microns and of female worms, 80 microns to 125 microns. One female worm was removed intact. It was 6 cm long and had a bifurcated tail characteristic of M. perstans.
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