Two Cases of Lacaziosis in Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Japan

Lacaziosis, formerly called lobomycosis, caused by Lacazia loboi, is a zoonotic mycosis found in humans and dolphins and is endemic in the countries on the Atlantic Ocean. Although the Japanese coast is not considered an endemic area, photographic records of lacaziosis-like skin lesions were found in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) that were migrating in the Goto Islands (Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan). We diagnosed 2 cases of lacaziosis in bottlenose dolphins captured simultaneously at the same coast within Japanese territory on the basis of clinical characteristics, cytology, histopathology, immunological tests, and detection of partial sequences of a 43？kDa glycoprotein coding gene (gp43) with a nested-PCR system. The granulomatous skin lesions from the present cases were similar to those found in animals from endemic areas, containing multiple budding and chains of round yeast cells and positive in the immune-staining with anti-Paracoccidioides brasiliensis serum which is a fungal species related to L. loboi; however, the gp43 gene sequences derived from the present cases showed 94.1% homology to P. brasiliensis and 84.1% to L. loboi. We confirmed that the causative agent at the present cases was different genotype of L. loboi from Amazon area. 1. Introduction Lacaziosis is a granulomatous chronic skin infection caused by the fungus Lacazia loboi and is endemic in the Atlantic coastal waters of Latin American countries [1–3]. Interestingly, L. loboi is a sister taxon with a close phylogenetic relationship to Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, which is a highly pathogenic fungal species also endemic in Latin American countries [4]. The disease it causes, lacaziosis, is formerly known as Jorge Lobo’s disease [5, 6] or lobomycosis until 2005 [7]. The characteristics of the disease are chronic keloidal skin lesions accompanied by pruritus, sensations of burning, and pain [2]. The hosts include humans and 3 species of dolphins: the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), the Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus), and the estuarine dolphin, “costero” (Sotalia guianensis) [8]. Only one case of dolphin-to-human infection has been reported in a dolphin trainer in The Netherlands who contacted the infected animal, suggesting that lacaziosis should be considered a zoonotic fungal infection [9, 10]. Lacaziosis is usually found at altitudes above 200？m in tropical, humid, or subtropical forests with an average temperature of 24°C and more than 2,000？mm of annual rainfall [1–3, 8]. The natural reservoir of L. loboi is unknown; however, its habitat