Naturally Acquired Histoplasmosis in the Mammals of the Panama Canal Zone

Abstract

Summary The endemicity of two areas in the Canal Zone, where clinical cases of histoplasmosis had occurred, was established by recovery of Histoplasma capsulatum from animals with naturally acquired histoplasmosis. H. capsulatum was isolated from twelve spiny rats (Proechimys semispinosus), seven common opossums (Didelphis marsupialis) and four “four-eyed” opossums (Philander o. fuscogriseus). The presence or absence of histoplasmin hypersensitivity and complement-fixing antibodies could not be correlated with culture results in the 90 spiny rats studied. The ear of the spiny rat was found to be a good site for determining the histoplasmin sensitivity of these animals.