Aspergillus felis sp. nov., an Emerging Agent of Invasive Aspergillosis in Humans, Cats, and Dogs

Abstract

We describe a novel heterothallic species in Aspergillus section Fumigati, namely A. felis (neosartorya-morph) isolated from three host species with invasive aspergillosis including a human patient with chronic invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, domestic cats with invasive fungal rhinosinusitis and a dog with disseminated invasive aspergillosis. Disease in all host species was often refractory to aggressive antifungal therapeutic regimens. Four other human isolates previously reported as A. viridinutans were identified as A. felis on comparative sequence analysis of the partial β-tubulin and/or calmodulin genes. A. felis is a heterothallic mold with a fully functioning reproductive cycle, as confirmed by mating-type analysis, induction of teleomorphs within 7 to 10 days in vitro and ascospore germination. Phenotypic analyses show that A. felis can be distinguished from the related species A. viridinutans by its ability to grow at 45°C and from A. fumigatus by its inability to grow at 50°C. Itraconazole and voriconazole cross-resistance was common in vitro.

Computed tomographic features of feline sino-nasal and sino-orbital aspergillosis

“…Disease occurs over a wide geographic range, including Australia, the USA, the United Kingdom, mainland Europe, and Japan (Barrs et al, 2012;Barrs et al, 2013;Declercq et al, 2012;Goodall et al, 1984;Kano et al, 2013;Smith and Hoffman, 2010;Tomsa et al, 2003). Two anatomic forms have been reported; sino-nasal aspergillosis (SNA) and sino-orbital aspergillosis (SOA) (Barrs et al, 2012).…”

“…Two anatomic forms have been reported; sino-nasal aspergillosis (SNA) and sino-orbital aspergillosis (SOA) (Barrs et al, 2012). The environmental saprophytic fungi that cause these infections are most commonly from the Aspergillus fumigatus complex including A. fumigatus and A. felis, a closely related, recently discovered cryptic (A. fumigatus-mimetic) species (Barrs et al, 2012;Barrs et al, 2013;Kano et al, 2008;Kano et al, 2013;Whitney et al, 2013). SNA and SOA have dramatically different prognoses (Barrs and Talbot, 2014).…”

“…In humans with aspergillosis, invasion is generally associated with impaired host immunity rather than the virulence of the infecting fungal species (Romani, 2011). Data from feline cases suggest an influence of fungal species on pathogenesis; A. fumigatus infections are frequently associated with non-invasive sinonasal cavity (SNC) infections, while a cryptic species, A. felis, causes invasive sino-orbital disease (Barrs et al, 2012;Barrs et al, 2013).…”

Immunohistochemical Analysis of Leucocyte Subsets in the Sinonasal Mucosa of Cats with Upper Respiratory Tract Aspergillosis

“…The differences in clinical presentation and outcome have been associated with the infecting Aspergillus species, since most cases of SNA are caused by A. fumigatus and SOA is most frequently caused by A. felis (Barrs et al, 2012(Barrs et al, , 2013. It is yet to be fully (Clancy and Nguyen, 1998;Tarrand et al, 2003;Siddiqui et al, 2004;Webb and Vikram, 2010;Gupta et al, 2012).…”

“…Fungal rhinosinusitis has been reported in man, dogs and, with increasing frequency , in cats (Barrs et al, 2012(Barrs et al, , 2013. Feline upper respiratory tract aspergillosis (URTA), which encompasses both sino-orbital aspergillosis (SOA) and sinonasal aspergillosis (SNA), is usually reported in immunocompetent cats.…”