Successful treatment of invasive nasal cryptococcosis in a ferret

Abstract

Invasive cryptococcal rhinitis due to Cryptococcus neoformans var gattii was diagnosed in a castrated, 5-year-old, albino ferret with subcutaneous swelling of the nasal bridge. The diagnosis was based on histology, needle aspirate cytology and positive culture on Sabouraud's dextrose agar and birdseed agar. The ferret was successfully treated using a long course of itraconazole (25 to 33 mg orally once daily with food) subsequent to surgical debulking of the lesion, using sequential cryptococcal antigen titre determinations to guide therapy.

Cryptococcosis in ferrets: a diverse spectrum of clinical disease

“…A case reported previously in detail 13 is again mentioned briefly due to the genetic and environmental relationship between that ferret (Case 1) and Case 2, its sibling. The diagnosis of cryptococcosis was not suspected prior to biopsy or necropsy in four cases, so specimens were not collected for mycology.…”

Cryptococcus gattii: an emerging fungal pathogen infecting humans and animals

“…Infections have been documented in a broad range of domestic, agrarian, and wild mammals, indicating that many mammals may be subject to disease and that cases in wild animals may frequently go unrecognized [19,31,33–37,80,85–87,89,91,106–108]. Infections in animals are of concern for economic factors (agrarian), quality of life for owners (domestic), and for wildlife concern particularly in the cases of koalas and marine mammals [19,20,33,37,77,78,91,109].…”

Mycotic Diseases

“…The mass was removed surgically and submitted for histology and culture [25]. The ferret at presentation was lethargic, coughing, and sneezing.…”

“…At 10 months post therapy, the titer in the ferret was 1 : 16 and ranged from 1 : 16-32 up to 3 years from the start of therapy [25]. In case #5, the ferret with C. gattii was treated successfully with itraconazole.…”