Cerebral Phaeohyphomycosis due to Cladophialophora bantiana in a Huacaya Alpaca (Vicugna pacos)

Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis, caused by Cladophialophora bantiana, was diagnosed in a Huacaya alpaca (Vicugna pacos). An 8-year-old, intact male Huacaya alpaca from a farm in Indiana was found dead at pasture and submitted to the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Purdue University for necropsy examination. Gross lesions were limited to the cerebrum, which had a 2 x 2.5 x 5 cm, well-demarcated, firm, mottled, pale grey to brown-red mass with a granular texture, centered on the left and right cingulate gyri. Microscopically, granulomatous and necrotizing meningoencephalitis with intralesional pigmented fungal hyphae effaced the cerebral grey and white matter of the cingulate gyri. The hyphae were 4-6 mu m in diameter and septate, with non-parallel walls and occasional branching. Polymerase chain reaction for the internal transcribed spacer-1 of the nuclear small-subunit ribosomal RNA genes was performed on extracts from formalin-fixed and paraffin wax-embedded sections of cerebrum. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the amplified fragment identified the fungal agent as C. bantiana. This is the first report of cerebral phaeohyphomycosis attributable to C. bantiana in a camelid. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.