Justin Davis K.TARRA MALLESWARI2023-02-012023-02-012021-03-30https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810193005Thesis Submitted in the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Veterinary Science in Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive MedicineA total of 100 dogs were screened for dermatophytosis from December 2020 to September 2021 from Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex (TVCC), Mannuthy and University Veterinary Hospital (UVH), Kokkalai. Of total samples, 25 samples (25 per cent) yielded a positive culture for dermatophytosis on SDA (Sabourauds Dextrose Agar). Five species of dermatophytes including T. mentagrophytes, T. rubrum, M. gypseum M. nanum and E. floccosum were isolated in the present study. Among them T. mentagrophyte (44 per cent) had higher occurrence followed by T. rubrum (24 per cent), M. gypseum (20 per cent) M. nanum (eight per cent) and E. floccosum (four per cent). Dermatophytosis was most commonly seen in puppies of less than six months of age (48 per cent) than young (36 per cent) and adult dogs (16 percent). Pure breeds of dog (92 per cent) were more infected with dermatophytosis than non-descriptive breeds (8 per cent). There was no significance difference noticed in sex wise predisposition of dermatophytosis. Seventy-six per cent dermatophytosis cases were presented as localized lesions and 24 per cent were presented as generalized lesions in the present study. Occurrence of dermatophytosis was high during summer and monsoon season than winter. Molecular characterization of dermatophyte isolates was carried out by using three sets of primers (ITS1-ITS4, B2F-B4R and TR1- TR2). Antifungal sensitivity was carried out by broth microdilution technique on 25 isolates with 4 antifungal agents (fluconazole, ketoconazole, miconazole and griseofulvin). Four isolates of T. mentagrophytes, four isolates of T. rubrum and three isolates of M. gypseum had high MICs for fluconazole (64 µg/ml), while ketoconazole, miconazole and griseofulvin had the lowest MIC values for all the isolates. So, it could be concluded that ketoconazole, miconazole and griseofulvin are the more preferable antifungals to treat dermatophytosis than fluconazole.EnglishThesis