Dermatophilosis

(Mycotic Dermatitis, Cutaneous Streptotrichosis, Senkobo Disease of cattle, Lumpy

Wool of sheep)

The disease in sheep is commonly called mycotic dermatitis, in cattle cutaneous

streptotrichosis, although other local names exist including Senkobo skin disease in Central
Africa, Kirchi in Nigeria, and Saria in Malawi. Dermatophilosis is a name common to the
disease in all species.
Etiology
Dermatophilus congolensis is the infective agent but requires damage to the skin from other
causes to establish infection. The organism is dimorphic and grows as branched filamentous
mycelia containing dormant zoospores which are transformed by moisture to the infective
stage of motile isolated cocci.
Epidemiology
Occurrence
Geographic occurrence
The disease occurs in all areas of the world but can be epizootic in tropical and subtropical
areas of the world where it can result in considerable economic loss. Surveys of large
numbers of cattle in Africa report prevalence rates approaching 15 % with a 100% infection
rate in some herds at the time of peak seasonal prevalence.

High prevalence in sheep flocks occurs in the high and medium rainfall areas of Australia.
Significant clinical disease has been reported as far north as Canada, the northern United
States and Scotland, and as far south as New Zealand.
Host occurrence
Disease occurs in cattle, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys, and occasionally in deer, pigs, camels,
& wildlife species. Animals of all ages are susceptible, including sucklings a few weeks old.
Source of infection
The major source of infection for outbreaks of clinical disease exists with minor active
lesions on the face and feet in otherwise healthy carrier animals, and with infection in scabs
still carried in the hair and wool from healed lesions.

D. congolensis is not highly invasive and does not normally breach the barriers of healthy
skin. These barriers include the stratum corneum, the superficial wax layer produced by the
sebaceous glands and, on the body of sheep, the physical barrier of the wool. On the feet and
face these barriers are easily and commonly broken by abrasive terrain or thorny and spiny
forage and feedstuffs.

Transmission
Transmission occurs from the carriage lesions by contact from the face of one animal to the
fleece or skin of another, and from the feet to the skin during mounting. Infection can be
transmitted mechanically by flies and ticks and mediate infection by contaminated dips.
Environmental and management risk factors
Sheep
Prolonged wetting of the fleece is the major risk factor and leads to emulsification of the
wax barrier and maceration of the skin surface with disruption of the stratum corneum. A
prolonged and heavy rain is sufficient to do this especially if followed by warm and humid
weather that retards drying of the fleece.

1
Shearing cuts also destroy the barriers of the skin and cuts may become infected
mechanically by flies, physically by tight yarding after shearing, and by mediate infection in
dips when sheep are dipped immediately following shearing.
Cattle
Climate is the most important risk factor and in tropical and subtropical regions, the disease
has its highest incidence and severity during the humid, high rainfall season. Animals in
which the disease regresses are usually reinfected repeatedly in successive wet seasons. As in
sheep, the disease in cattle requires disruption of natural skin barriers. However, prolonged
wetting of the skin of cattle does not appear to be a major predisposing factor by itself and the
seasonal occurrence is associated with a concomitant increase in tick and insect infestation.
For example, a recent study in Ethiopia found that although prevalence was higher in cattle in
the wet season, in both seasons infestation with A. variegatum significantly affected the
occurrence of disease with infested cattle seven times at higher risk.

Tick infestation, particularly with Ambylomma variegatum, Hyalomma asticum, and

Boophilus microplus, is strongly associated with the occurrence of extensive lesions of
dermatophilosis, which can be minimized by the use of acaricides.

The lesions of dermatophilosis on the body do not occur at the predilection sites for ticks and
it is thought that the importance of tick infestation relates to a tick-produced immune
suppression in the host rather than mechanical or biological transmission.

Lesions do occur at predilection sites for biting insects, mainly Stomoxys spp. and Lyperosia
spp., Glossinia spp., Calliphoria spp., and mosquitoes. In Africa the disease is often combined
with demodicosis to produce 'Senkobo disease', a more severe and often fatal combination.

Trauma to the skin produced by thorny bushes and the Ox-peeker bird (Buphagus africanus
africanus) can also initiate lesions.
Horses
Biting flies (Stomoxys calcitrans) are thought to act as mechanical vectors of the infection
and the house fly (Musca domestica) can carry infection. Skin damage from trauma or from
ectoparasites can predispose disease as does wetting from rainfall or from frequent washing.
Host risk factors
There are breed differences in susceptibility in cattle and sheep. In Africa, the N'dama and
Muturu cattle breeds and native sheep are resistant, while Zebu, White Fulani, and European
breeds are susceptible. Within-breed differences in susceptibility are also apparent and
genetic markers have been identified in Zebu cattle and Merino sheep. In the Merino, sheep
of the strong or medium wool strains are more susceptible. Open-fleeced sheep, and sheep
with a low-wax and high-suint content in their fleece are more prone to infection.
Pathogen risk factors
D. congolensis does not live well off the body and in the normal environment, and is
susceptible to the external influences of pH and moisture fluctuations. In the laboratory it can
survive for 4 years in otherwise sterile broth culture and for at least 13 years in dry scab
material kept at room temperature.
Economic importance
Sheep
Damage to the fleece causes severe losses, up to 30% loss of value of wool and 40% loss of
skin value, and may be so extensive in lambs that spring lambing has to be abandoned. Other
losses in sheep are caused by interference with shearing and a very great increase in
susceptibility to blowfly infestation.

2
Cattle
In Africa the disease in cattle causes great losses and many deaths, and the disease ranks as
one of the four major bacterial diseases with equivalent importance to contagious bovine
pleuropneumonia and brucellosis. Goats in the same area also suffer a high incidence. Losses
are from direct animal loss, decreased work ability of affected oxen, reproductive failure
from vulval infection or infection on the limbs of males preventing mounting, death from
starvation of calves of dams with udder infection, loss of animal meat and milk production,
and downgrading of hides.
Clinical findings
Sheep
Lesions are commonly not visible in sheep because they are obscured by the fleece but the
crusts can be palpated as hard masses at the surface of the skin (lumpy wool disease) and
typically are distributed irregularly over the dorsal midline with 'ribs' spreading laterally and
ventrally. The crusts are roughly circular, thick, up to 3 cm, often distinctly pyramidal with a
concave base, often pigmented, and the underlying skin is moist and reddened. The muzzle,
face and ears, and the scrotum of rams, may also be involved. The health of the animal is
unaffected unless the lesions are widespread.
Heavy mortalities can occur in very young lambs where there can be extensive lesions over
the body. Many develop cutaneous blowfly myiasis and in occasional cases a secondary
pneumonia due to the organism may cause the death of the animal.
Cattle
The early lesion is a pustule and the hair over the infected site is erect and matted in tufts
(paintbrush lesions) with greasy exudate forming crumbly crusts which are hard to remove.
These develop to scabs which are greasy and fissure at flexion points, and finally to scabs
that are hard, horny, and confluent. The scabs vary in color from cream to brown, are 2-5 cm
in diameter and are often in such close apposition that they give the appearance of a mosaic.
In the early stages the crusts are very tenacious and attempts to lift them cause pain. Beneath
the crusts there is granulation tissue and some pus. In the later stages, the dermatitis heals and
the crusts separate from the skin, are held in place by penetrating hairs, but are easily
removed.

Lesions occur on the neck, body, the back of the udder and may extend over the sides and
down the legs and the ventral surface of the body. Commonly they commence along the back
from the withers to the rump and extend halfway down the rib cages. In some animals the
only site affected is the flexor aspect of the limb joints or the inguinal area or between the
forelimbs.
In young calves, infection commences on the muzzle, probably from contact with the infected
udder or because of scalding by milk in bucket-fed calves, and may spread over the head and
neck.
Horses
Lesions in horses are similar to those in cattle. The hairs are matted together over the lesion
and an exudative dermatitis produces a firm mat of hairs and debris just above the skin
surface. If this hair is plucked the entire structure may lift off, leaving a characteristic ovoid,
slightly bleeding skin area. No pruritus or irritation is apparent although the sores are tender
to the touch.
Goats
Lesions appear first on the lips and muzzle and then spread, possibly by biting, to the feet and
scrotum. They may extend to all parts of the body, especially the dorsal midline and inside
the thighs. In some cases lesions commence on the external ear. Heavy crust formations may
block the ear canal and the external nares.

3
Clinical Pathology
The causative organism may be isolated from scrapings or a biopsy section and is much
easier to isolate from an acute case than a chronic one. Polymyxin B sulfate can be used to
suppress contaminants. Typical branching organisms with double rows of zoospores can be
seen in a stained impression smear made directly from the ventral surface of a thick scab
pressed firmly onto a slide. The organism can also be demonstrated by fluorescent antibody.
ELISA and counterimmunoelectrophoresis have also been used to detect serological evidence
of infection with D. congolensis.
Samples for confirmation of diagnosis
➢ Bacteriology - affected skin and draining lymph node (CYTO FUNGAL CULT)
➢ Histology - formalin-fixed samples of these tissues (LM)
Treatment
Sheep
Antibiotic treatment at high dose for a single treatment is effective in reducing the proportion
of active lesions in an affected flock. Antibiotics that are effective include procaine penicillin
combined with streptomycin at a dose of 70 000 units/ kg and 70 mg/kg, respectively,
erythromycin at 10 mglkg, long acting tetracycline at 20 mg/kg and combination of
lincomycin and spectinomycin at a dose of 5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg, respectively, all treatment
being given intramuscularly.
Cattle
With the disease that occurs in temperate areas tetracycline (5 mg/kg BW) repeated weekly as
required is recommended, and long-acting tetracycline (20 mg/kg BW) in one injection is
reported to give excellent results in cattle. Parenteral procaine penicillin (22 000 iu/kg) daily
for three days is also reported as efficacious. Antibiotics should be used in conjunction with
acaricides when ticks are present.
Horses
Topical therapy is most commonly used in horses coupled with removal from whatever is
causing prolonged wetness of the skin. Although horses generally respond well, in bad
weather even they can be recalcitrant to treatment. Scabs can be removed by grooming under
sedation and the lesions treated topically daily with povidone-iodine or chlorhexidine until
the lesions heal. Benzoyl peroxide has keratolytic, antibacterial, and follicular flushing
properties and is reported to be effective in therapy when applied topically at a concentration
of 2.5%. Severe cases can be treated daily for 3 days with penicillin at 20 000 units/kg
intramuscularly alone or in combination with streptomycin at 10 mg/kg.
Control
The principal approach, where possible, is the avoidance of predisposing factors. The disease
usually disappears in dry weather. Isolation of infected animals and avoidance of contact by
clean animals with infected materials such as grooming tools is desirable. Affected sheep
should be shorn and/or dipped last.
Bactericidal dips will give some protection to sheep. Spraying or dipping of sheep in a 0.5-
1.0% solution of zinc sulfate immediately after shearing is used to prevent infection of shear
cuts. Spraying or dipping sheep in a 1 % solution of alum (potassium aluminum sulfate)
provides protection against infection for up to 70 days, alum rendering the organism non-
motile, and can be used to provide protection during the rainy season in woolled sheep. With
cattle in tropical areas, tick control is most important in control of dermatophilosis. Attempts
at prophylaxis by vaccination in both sheep and cattle have been unsuccessful immunity
appears to be isolate-specific.