Histopathologic Diagnosis of Fungal Infections of Lab Animals

Fungi are always important for nature as they help in soil fertility, decomposition of organic matter, production of mycotoxins, agro-economic benefits, etc. Fungi are causative agents of many human and animal diseases and are easily spread through spores via different agents. Fungal infections (mycoses) are a state where fungal filaments enter the tissues by simple invasion that may spread in many ways such as localized, superficial, or deeper infections. It may also enter in bloodstream and lungs and causes serious diseases. Fungal infections are not depending upon the immunity of organism, so its control and treatment is very important. Laboratory animals are highly prone for fungal infections, and it causes great loss to biological research. Diagnosis and treatment of fungal infections is very sensitive, cost-, and time-effective as there are diversity of fungi and identification and analysis of disease is very important for successful treatment. Traditional approaches of fungal strain diagnosis include direct microscopic examination of clinical samples, histopathology, culture, and serology. Fungal infections are always addressed as global threats to human and animal health, so more focused research is required to explore the immunopathology of fungal diseases, in order to bring advancements in fungal diagnostics and drug development. Diagnosis at histopathological level in lab organism model is always a matter of concern; there are different symptoms in different animal species caused by fungi, which is actually a tough task to understand easily. In this chapter, we discuss types of fungal infections in different lab models and methods of fungal infections diagnosis and treatment.