The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is a widely used diagnostic assay in human medicine but nowadays poorly applied in veterinary medicine. This test measures the speed (millimeters per hour) at which red blood cells settle in a whole anticoagulated blood tube. In human medicine, high ESR values are associated with various disorders, including infections, rheumatoid arthritis, oncologic diseases, and other inflammatory conditions. The ESR can also be influenced by some factors such as age and gender. In veterinary medicine, the ESR with the Westergren manual method was almost forgotten over the years due to blood consumption and long turn‐around time. The instrument MINI‐PET, using a modified Westergren method, does not require blood consumption or release waste product and recently has been applied in canine medicine. The aims of the study in the horse were as follows: to establish the appropriate time to read the ESR with the Westergren reference method; to compare the MINI‐PET ESR results with the reference technique; to assess the ESR reference intervals with MINI‐PET; and to establish the ESR stability from collection at different time points by MINI‐PET. Using 150 horses, we established 60 minutes as the appropriate time for ESR reading with the Westergren method. Moreover, ESR results obtained in 8 minutes with MINI‐PET showed a good correlation with the Westergren ESR. Reference intervals (RIs) with MINI‐PET were established in mm/h for the healthy horses (geldings 18.6–100.1; stallions, 13.8–55.7; and mares 1–73.7) according to the American Society of Veterinary Clinical Pathology guidelines. In addition, the ESR stability from the blood collection time was evaluated in the MINI‐PET on 15 horses: at room temperature, ESR is stable up to 8 hours and at 4°C up to 24 hours. In conclusion, MINI‐PET represents a rapid and reliable tool for measuring ESR in horses, offering a valid option to replace the traditional manual technique.

Candidozyma (Candida) auris is a multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen of growing concern. We report the first isolation of C. auris in a domestic cat in Italy. The yeast was repeatedly recovered from feces over six months, suggesting persistent intestinal colonization. Isolation occurred during and after immunosuppressive treatment for eosinophilic granuloma complex. Antifungal susceptibility testing revealed resistance to azoles, amphotericin B and capsofungin. This case highlights the potential role of companion animals as reservoirs of C. auris, supporting a One Health perspective in fungal surveillance.

Cladosporium infections have a poor prognosis in animals, most likely due to a lack of knowledge about diagnosis and treatment. In this study, we described a case of a lethal Cladosporium allicinum infection in a captive bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus) in Europe. One adult male bullfrog was referred with clinical signs of lethargy and a cutaneous nodule. Fungal infection was suspected on cytology and confirmed by histology and cultural isolation. The mold was identified by molecular methods using partial sequencing of the TEF1α gene and the ITS region of rDNA. Climbazole antifungal treatment was started but the frog died after 30 days, and necropsy was done. Pigmented hyphae and structures consistent with muriform bodies were found on a background of diffuse granulomatous inflammation at cytological and histopathological examinations. Fungal culture revealed the presence of pigmented fungi identified as Cladosporium allicinum only by partial sequencing of the TEF1α gene. A focally extensive granuloma with intralesional hyphae and muriform bodies effacing the architecture of head, liver, kidneys, lungs, and large intestine were retrieved after necropsy. This study is the first Italian report of the occurrence of lethal C. allicinum infection in a frog and highlights the role of this Cladosporium sp. in chromoblastomycosis.

This study reports a peculiar case of systemic candidiasis infection associated with pulmonary aspergillosis in an apparently immunocompetent alpaca. A captive 7-year-old female alpaca exhibited respiratory symptoms, underwent treatment with benzylpenicillin and dexamethasone, and succumbed to the infection 40 days later. During the post-mortem examination, subcutaneous emphysema, widespread pneumonia with multiple suppurative foci, scattered necro-suppurative lesions throughout the renal and hepatic parenchyma were evident. Histopathological analysis of the collected tissues revealed multifocal mild lymphoplasmacytic chronic interstitial nephritis, necro-suppurative pneumonia with the presence of fungal hyphae, multifocal foci of mineralization, and fibrosis in the liver. Fungal cultures confirmed the growth of Aspergillus fumigatus from the lungs, and Candida albicans from the liver, kidney, and heart. The only recognizable risk factor for candidiasis and pulmonary aspergillosis in this case was prior corticosteroid and antibiotic therapy. Nevertheless, it is crucial to consider systemic candidosis and pulmonary aspergillosis as potential differential diagnoses in respiratory infections among camelids. Prolonged treatment with glucocorticoids and antibiotics should be avoided as it could represent a risk factor for the onset of pathologies caused by opportunistic fungi such as Candida spp. and Aspergillus spp.

Based on the literature data, the incidence of superficial and invasive non-dermatophyte mold infection (NDMI) has increased. Many of these infections are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, thus causing inadequate treatment procedures followed by critical conditions or even mortality of the patients. Accurate diagnosis of these infections requires complex mycological analyses and operator skills, but simple, fast, and more efficient mycological tests are still required to overcome the limitations of conventional fungal diagnostic procedures. In this study, software has been developed to provide an efficient mycological diagnosis using a trained convolutional neural network (CNN) model as a core classifier. Using EfficientNet-B2 architecture and permanent slides of NDM isolated from patient’s materials (personal archive of Prof. Otašević, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical Faculty, University of Niš, Serbia), a multi-CNN model has been trained and then integrated into the diagnostic tool, with a 93.73% accuracy of the main model. The Grad-CAM visualization model has been used for further validation of the pattern recognition of the model. The software, which makes the final diagnosis based on the rule of the major method, has been tested with images provided by different European laboratories, showing an almost faultless accuracy with different test images.