Fungal flora isolated from the skin of healthy dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius)

Hair samples from 58 healthy camels were examined for the presence of saprophytic fungi. One -hundred and seventy-four samples were obtained from three different locations of dromedary camel's body. Several fungal specific media were used for isolating and identifying the saprophytes. Fungal isolates belonged to 15 genera. The most common in order of frequency were members of the genera Aspergillus (48% of the total examined camels), Penicillium (16.1%), Mucor (14.2%), Alternaria alternata (5.6%), Rhizopus (3.1%), Chrysosporium (2.7%), Acremonium (1.1%), Scoupolariopsis (1%), Cladosporium (0.8%), Fusarium, Psuedallescheria boydii and Stachybotrys atra (0.2%). The highest frequently yeasts isolated were related to Candida species (6%), followed by Geotrichum candidum (0.6%) and Malassezia species (0.2%). Skin infections caused by any of the contaminants were not encountered. The study demonstrates that Aspergillus, Penicillium and Mucor species were the common components of healthy camel skin mycoflora, and that camel hair analyzed in this study was free from true dermatophyte.