Abstract
The purpose of this study was to isolate and identify of yeast-form fungi from the oral cavity of dogs. Oral samples from 38 dogs were cultured on Brucella-blood agar for total organisms, and selective media for fungi. The distribution and characterization of the isolates were studied. The fungi were present in 52.6% of the examined dogs. The average detection rate against total cultivable bacteria was 0.0018% (0∼0.013%). Most yeast-form fungi could grow on CHROMagar Candida medium for 5 days and formed small, smooth colonies. Malassezia spp. was detected from 52.6% of the tested subjects. The genera Candida, Trichosporon and Cryptococcus were identified at a low percentage. However, Candida albicans was not detected in any of the dogs. The conclusions of this study are that dog inherent C. albicans was absent, and the predominant fungus was Malassezia spp. These results suggest that the composition of yeast-form fungi in oral cavities of human and dogs differs.
